-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: Difference between a Bird's-eye View and a Pictorial
Relief Map
Date:   Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:58:21 -0400
From:   Joel Kovarsky <[log in to unmask]>
To:     Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
<[log in to unmask]>



Sorry for this second message, but what I was discussing was discussing
does not always clearly fit the cataloging rules, which can separate out
relief shown pictorially (i.e. simple line drawings of mountains), or by
shading, contour lines, bathymetric units, hachures, etc. The history of
depictions of topographical variation is understandably more expansive
that what is discussed in cataloging manuals. Hence the classification
of an aerial view might be subject to interpretation depending on the
intent of the individual map.

Joel Kovarsky

On 8/12/2011 1:34 PM, Joel Kovarsky wrote:
> On 8/12/2011 9:29 AM, Angie Cope, American Geographical Society
> Library, UW Milwaukee wrote:
>> Could someone explain the difference to me between a Bird’s-Eye View map
>> and a Pictorial Relief Map? I have read the definitions in the
>> Cartographic Materials manual and I am still not sure of what I have.
>>
>> Are they both drawings?
>>
>> I have a colorful drawing of a map of our ski area, showing all the ski
>> runs and the ski area boundaries, as seen from above. This is no scale
>> given. There are a few pictorial symbols for map legend, but no text
>> except the names of the ski runs.
>>
>
> From my perspective, a birds-eye view is something that dates to
> classical times, literally representing the landscape from the
> perspective of a bird. It is not necessarily even a map, and can be a
> town/city/landscape. It does not require a precise indication of
> scale, and many early varieties are quite fanciful. Aerial views are
> arguably the same as or similar to birds-eye views, but if direct
> images they would generally be more precise. Before aerial photography
> birds-eye views were simply represented from a high vantage point,
> such as a hill, mountain or tower.
>
> A pictorial relief map, for me (and as implied in /Cartographic
> Materials/) would require some more specific depiction of relief (such
> as contour lines, hachures, specialized shading or hypsometric tints).
> The focus is directed to these sorts of topographic depictions with an
> emphasis on more precise representation of those (planimetric) details.
>
> What you were describing, in terms of what sounds like a tourist map
> of a ski area, would likely be more along the lines of a birds-eye
> view. This is emphasized by the absence of scale, and other details
> that would be required for a pictorial relief map.
>
> Joel Kovarsky