The Map Room

When I was a child, my first exposure to the wider world was through the National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our World, which, in the classic National Geographic style that eschewed overt criticism of foreign countries, simple maps of countries were accompanied by photos and anecdotes that illustrated culture and daily life. In a, uh, nominally similar vein, I suppose, is the, um, 73rd edition of The Onion’s Our Dumb World, an atlas that, in the classic Onion style, well, um, takes the piss out of countries around the world and makes up fun facts and statistics about them. (From the sample pages: “Chile: Preventing Argentina from Enjoying the Pacific Ocean since 1918” or “Bahamas: This Luggage Isn’t Going to Move Itself.”) Lord knows what would have happened to me if I had been given Our Dumb World instead of Our World when I was eight. (Why, I might have ended up joining the foreign service or even worse.) Via Gadling.

Full disclosure: Our Dumb World is currently an advertiser on The Map Room’s RSS feed.

• Buy Our Dumb World at Amazon.com

Mark Ovendon’s Transit Maps of the World sounds delightful: it’s a compendium of maps of urban rail systems of more than 200 cities around the world. Cory Doctorow is smitten: “This is sheer public transit/map porn, and I’m in love. … This is the kind of book that would be incredibly fun to browse with kids as part of a world geography investigation — and also the sort of thing that makes great bedtime reading if you want to salt your dreams with the possibility of travel to distant cities.” And, via Gadling, a brief Associated Press story about the book’s U.S. release this Tuesday.

Previously: Massive Gallery of Subway Maps; Scale Subway Systems.

• Buy Transit Maps of the World at Amazon.com

The United States Geological Survey’s National Map makes use of a corps of volunteers, who are assigned a given area (a USGS quad) and report the names and coordinates of various map features, such as schools, town halls and other facilities, and any changes thereto. The sorts of things that aerial surveys might reveal, but not necessarily identify. Sounds interesting — something a dedicated individual with spare time and a GPS might have a lot of fun doing, akin to what OpenStreetMap volunteers are doing in the UK. (U.S. geographic data is in the public domain, so this may well be the next best thing.) Via Very Spatial and Catholicgauze.

The New York Public Library’s skunkworks is currently experimenting with a number of blogs, one of which — quite naturally, given the existence of the NYPL’s map division — deals with maps: Maps @ NYPL is still at an early stage, as is the blogging project in general, but with its focus (so far) on old New York maps, it should be worth watching. Thanks to peacay for the tip.

An exhibition of Matthew Picton’s art just wrapped up at the Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery in Portland, Oregon. “His cartography transforms the traditional two dimensional mapping system into a multi-layered sculpture of communication, transportation, and rivers,” says the gallery, “thus both depicting and abstracting the systems of the city.” The Oregonian has more: “Picton’s materials are deceptively simple: Dura-Lar plastic, paint, pins and a white rectangular canvas. The Dura-Lar is hand-cut — a doily of lines that float in space, casting delicate shadows against one another. The pins lend an eerie feel to the pieces, as if the maps were insects affixed in a taxidermist’s box. The process of assembling each piece, as well as the research involved, must take months.”

Meanwhile, eight time zones away, another map art exhibition is currently on display at the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork, Ireland. The exhibition, entitled [C]artography: map-making as artform, “seeks to explore the techniques and styles of early map-makers, as well as focus on contemporary artists who use mapping methodologies in their art practice, often for very different reasons,” says the gallery. “These early maps and present day computer digital maps will be seen alongside works by Kathy Prendergast, Frank Bowling, Grayson Perry, Stephen Brandes, Jeremy Deller, Mona Hatoum, Dorothy Cross, Tom Molloy and other contemporary artists who explore the relationship between cartography and memory, imagination and meaning.” Thanks to Neil Costigan for the tip.

Christa Dichgan’s art requires close scrutiny: her map-based paintings are countries whose outlines are filled with figures, objects and other tiny details to which a thumbnail such as this (of her 2005 work, “Europa,” a mix of oils and paper collage on canvas) can scarcely do justice. Via Strange Maps.

Speaking of OpenStreetMap, Mikel Maron has come up with a method of viewing OpenStreetMap map tiles on the iPhone’s map application, which normally uses Google. It’s a hack, and requires a hacked iPhone to do it (to access the application’s cache of map images), but, Mikel points out, it should permit — though I use that word advisedly — the use of any map tiles in that application. Moot for those who prefer not to hack their iPhones. Via O’Reilly Radar.

OpenStreetMap contributor Gregory Marler moved to Durham to begin a university degree, but the OpenStreetMap project does not have a lot of data for Durham. Marler has therefore hit upon the idea that he would not only contribute Durham data to the project, but only rely on free and open mapping data to get around the city:

So an idea was born in my head. I would go and live in Durham and map as much as one man can to get it looking better. But let’s make things more interesting, let’s introduce the rule that I can’t use any map that is copyrighted in a restrictive way. I will only use maps that I can legally draw over, rub out, and display wherever I like. As far as I know right now this only adds up to maps people doodle for me (they automatically own the copyright permission have to let me use it) and maps created using OSM data (the main map, information freeway, cyclemap, and maybe others). And while I do all that, I’ll blog about it so you can now what it’s like creating a map without any exisiting local knowledge or map data.

He’s writing about it on his blog, Living with Dragons. I’m an agnostic when it comes to free vs. commercial mapping data (I don’t care whether the cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice), but I admire the tenacity of people who undertake projects like this. More here; thanks to Crafty for the tip.

Forbes Smiley’s impact may still be felt at Harvard, where students endure long lines on their way out of the library for security checks, and where Harvard College’s Houghton Library has posted a list of three maps associated with the Smiley affair that are still missing. Via Tony Campbell’s map thefts news page and MAPS-L.

On his relatively new Terra ETL Blog, which I had not noticed before, Dean C. Mikkelsen has a nice post explaining the Robinson projection, the compromise projection created for aesthetic purposes by the late Arthur Robinson. (You may recall that from 1988 to 1998 the Robinson was the projection used by the National Geographic Society’s world maps, shoehorned between the previously used Van der Grinten and the currently used Winkel Tripel.) Via Planet Geospatial.

The Times reports that the man suspected of stealing 19 maps from Spain’s national library has given himself up in Argentina. César Gómez Rivero, a Uruguyan-born Spanish national residing in Buenos Aires, tried to negotiate a deal with an Argentine judge last week by turning over eight of the maps. He is currently free on bail, and Spanish officials are now seeking his extradition. (See this earlier Agence France-Presse report from last week, when Rivero tried to return the maps; via Map the Universe.)

Meanwhile, another of the stolen maps has turned up in a Sydney art gallery, to which the map had made its way via the U.S. (also via Map the Universe).

João Machado’s artwork includes map collages “made entirely with vintage maps,” he writes. “The people shown in [my] work are depicted in the maps of the region in which they are from. Sometimes the maps used are contrapuntal to the image depicted.” João’s site is flash-based; click on “Works on Paper,” then “Maps,” to view the map goodies.

This time it’s for real. A year and a half after John Emerson proposed compass points at subway entrances, and guerrilla-style compass roses began appearing on city sidewalks, the New York City Department of Transportation announces temporary compass decals outside four subway stops. John’s reaction, New York Times article. Via Kottke.

Previously: Guerrilla Wayfinding.

More on the case of the maps stolen from the Spanish national library, courtesy of El País: the total number of maps stolen is now listed as 19 (on 12 leaves), but the missing maps are beginning to be recovered, by local authorities in New York and Sydney. For English-language coverage, see Expatica and a brief mention in this Sydney Morning Herald article. Via Map the Universe and Tony Campbell’s map thefts news page.

Previously: Map Theft Updates; Spanish Map Theft Update; Maps Stolen from Spain’s National Library.

Cathy Hummel couldn’t find a decent map of the Minnesota Lakes region where her family had their cottage, the Fargo Forum reports, so she started a business making her own. Her maps, which have been positively received by fellow cottagers, have a whimsical style based on old maps, with mermaids in lakes and so forth.

MapQuest — still the ostensible market leader in online mapping, apparently — has taken some steps to catch up with its upstart rivals. Its new blog — yes, MapQuest now has a blog — begins with a post announcing MapQuest’s new beta version. The beta’s upgrades are to MapQuest’s user interface, which was, let’s be honest, so last century; the features are outlined here. The problem is, these features have been offered by MapQuest’s competition for years — it’s October 2007, and only now is MapQuest allowing its users to input addresses in a single input box. To say that they’re playing catchup is a bit of an understatement. Via Anything Geospatial.

ODT Maps, the publisher (and chief promoter) of the Peters map (and general source of thought provocation about map projections and representationality), has produced a documentary about the map and Arno Peters. From the press release:

This fascinating 30-minute documentary explores the history of how the Peters Equal Area World Map came into being. The project was a collaborative effort between Ruth and her map-publisher son, Bob Abramms, founder of ODTmaps.com. The movie took six years for them to complete. It was filmed on-location at Dr. Peters home in Bremen, Germany, as well as in Oxford, England, and a variety of locations in the USA. The film includes scenes from the West Wing TV show that featured the map and cartographic critiques that show the tension and conflict that the Peters map generated amongst the cartographic establishment. The film contains the only English-language interviews ever conducted with Arno Peters. Dr. Peters died in 2002, fifteen months after these interviews were filmed.

The film premieres in Brookline, Massachusetts, on November 10 and will be available on DVD. Previews are here.

Previously: Review: Seeing Through Maps.

The San Francisco Chronicle charts the decline of paper maps in the face of their digital competition — a subject that we’ve seen from time to time, but not necessarily drawing the same conclusions. The Chronicle reports that paper map distribution is down, according to some AAA regional numbers, but that’s only one metric. And, despite the headline and overall gist of the article, another point — that online maps and paper maps serve different needs — is also made:

Henry Poirot, president of the International Map Trade Association, a mapping industry group, said his organization is trying to quantify the shift from paper to electronic maps and chart the future of the map business. Like Minster, Poirot said there’s a place for both paper and digital maps.

“The more people use GPS, the more they realize the importance of the paper product,” he said, explaining that paper maps are often a necessary backup for drivers.

Despite the high-tech lure of electronic gadgetry, many experts believe that paper maps still have an inherent advantage: size and scope.

“Paper maps offer big-picture geometry,” said Debra Turner, vice president of marketing for Compass Maps, a 45-year-old Modesto firm that makes road and street maps. “They can show you four or five counties, and not just the neighborhood you’re driving in.”

Another purported paper-map advantage: niche and value-added maps.

Previously: Japanese Value-Added Maps; Paeans to Paper Maps; Paper Maps: Doomed in Canada, But Not Elsewhere?

The holy grail of geotagging is to embed GPS-derived lat/long data into a photo’s EXIF data at the moment it’s taken. There have been a few options for high-end Nikon digital SLRs; now here’s another one: the GeoPic II clips onto the hotshoe and connects through the accessory socket. Notably, it claims power-saving features that also allow geotagging indoor photos. Pricey at £200, but then so are the cameras it’s compatible with. Via Engadget.

Previously: DIY Geotagging for a Nikon Digital SLR.

A Wall Street Journal article discussing the end of Wal-Mart’s retail dominance includes a flash map showing the spread of Wal-Mart stores across the United States. Via Boing Boing.

More news about the maps stolen from a 1482 edition of the Cosmographia held in Spain’s national library: Spanish authorities have named a suspect, a 60-year-old Spanish citizen of Uruguayan origin currently residing in Argentina; and the missing maps have apparently been traced to an antique dealer in Australia. (Previously: Maps Stolen from Spain’s National Library; Spanish Map Theft Update.)

More notes from MAGERT’s “Library Security for Maps” program at the ALA last June. (Previously: MAGERT Map Collection Security Guidelines.)

Via MapHist.

A couple of quick updates about Google’s mapping stuff — quick updates seem to be all I have time or energy for at the moment, what with the full-time contract and the resulting lengthy commute. Google Transit’s features have been integrated into the main Google Maps site. And yesterday there was a big update of Google Earth’s 60-cm imagery (which should trickle down into Google Maps shortly). Google’s mapping blog is once again being coy about the locations; Frank has a cheat sheet.

When it was announced last July that TomTom would acquire Tele Atlas for €1.8 billion, Navteq was widely seen as the next acquisition target. The only question was, by whom. The answer is Nokia, which announced today that it was acquiring Navteq for a purchase price of $8.1 billion (via Engadget). See also the Wall Street Journal’s coverage, issued before the announcement (via Ed Parsons).

If you were wondering why a mobile phone company and not an Internet company like Google or Yahoo, consider the data from the slides accompanying the announcement (via All Points Blog) — “Internet and wireless” make up only five per cent of Navteq’s revenues, compared with 25 per cent from mobile devices and a whopping 62 per cent from in-dash navigation systems. Google Maps and its ilk are a very small part of a digital mapping data provider’s business.