----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Marjorie K. McIntosh inquires about computer mapping:
 
>1) I'll presumably need to start out with a basic physical map of
>England, showing coast lines, boundaries, and major rivers.  I want to be
>able to range in magnification from displaying all of england on one
>screen (or one 8.5 x ll printout) to a larger mag. where the country is
>subdivided into perhaps 20 sub-units.  Is such a map already available
>for computer use, or would I need to scan one in?   What kind of
>software would enable me to change the display magnifications like that?
>What kind of software and printer would I need to print out maps of this
>sort?
 
At the moment there are basically two types of computer mapping that can be
done on microcomputers.  The first is simply using illustration software,
such as Illustrator or FreeHand or Corel Draw, to draw maps.  These maps
(which is what my firm does) are optimized for printing--whether as laser
print, 35mm slide, or 4-color negatives--because they rely on the
PostScript page description language for sophisticated output.  BUT, these
maps do not have the capability to do automated shading of areas based on
data values or to place dots based on lat/long coordinates, or the other
data management tasks.  The mapmaker draws the map by hand (though the
computer offers some real advantages when it comes to revising and making
it look good).
 
The second type of microcomputer maps are ones made with automated mapping
packages such as MapInfo, Atlas, or Maptitude.  These usually rely on
canned boundary files (drawing your own boundaries can be done with some
packages but isn't all that common) and are optimized for data mapping,
such as showing demographics by ZIP code or census tract.  Although they
have gotten better, these packages usually don't produce especially
good-looking output.  Oddball projections, limited selections of bad
typefaces, and poor design defaults are still the rule rather than the
exception.  These packages are typically oriented toward plotters and PC
printers rather than PostScript output.
 
Now, to return to your questions.  Clip art maps are certainly available
for illustration programs from companies like Cartesia.  The quality is
reasonable, about like the average newspaper map.  Their set of country
maps includes one of the current UK with modern county boundaries.  It
could safely be enlarged to 8.5x11 inches, but not much more, because the
boundaries are not that detailed and would start to look coarse.  I don't
recall whether rivers are included, though those could be sketched in based
on county boundaries.  Larger towns (I think all county seats) are
included.
 
For data-mapping software, I'm not familiar with what's available for
non-US locations.  MapInfo does have a good-sized European operation, so UK
boundary files must be available.  They would, of course, be modern day
boundaries, and probably not much more susceptible to enlargement than
Cartesia's.
 
 
>2) Likewise, I'll need to have a map showing the boundaries of English
>counties prior to 1800.  Is that available, or would it need to be scanned?
 
You'd have to build this yourself, unless you happen across some colleague
in the UK who's already done it for some reason and is willing to share.
 
 
>3) I now have a data base of information about 250 towns/villages entered
>into SPSS which I want to display on the basic map of England.  What
>would be the best mapping software to use?  What would I need to run it
>on my PC, or would I have to run it on a bigger machine at work?
 
I'm not clear what you want to display.  Just the locations of the
towns/villages?  Or some quantitative data about them?  Automated mapping
software like MapInfo will allow you to do graduated-circle mapping, but
you'll have to give the locations one by one (unless you find a geocoded
list; see below).  Illustration software won't place the towns
automatically; you'd have to drag a little circle into the proper place
onscreen for each town.  Whatever you choose, you'll need some computing
power.  On the Mac side, you'll want a 68030 processor or better; on the
Intel side, you'll want a machine that runs Windows quickly and
comfortably.
 
 
>4) Is there a computer-based listing of geographical coordinates arranged
>by English county/place-name that would let me read in the coordinates of
>my 250 places, rather than having to look them up in a gazetter and enter
>them manually into the SPSS file?
 
I don't know for sure.  Defense Mapping Agency, in collaboration with the
U.S. Board on
Geographic Names (BGN), is making its holdings of foreign geographic
names information available on the Internet.  Try their Web page at
[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]
I don't know what may be available from UK sources.  At AAG last month, an
exhibitor (maybe GDE) announced a new CD collection of world placenames but
I'm not sure it's available yet.
 
>5)  I want also to scan in a medieval road map.  Would the software I
>used for items 1 and/or 3 above work for that too?
 
Illustration software can handle this very easily (if you decide to go this
route, I'll be happy to tell you why I think MacroMedia FreeHand is the
best choice among illustration packages for mapping).  MapInfo Version 3
can handle scanned images as well.
 
 
>6) Ideally I'd like to compare my places against a map showing elevation
>contour lines.  Are such maps already available for computer use, or
>would I have to can one in myself for England?
 
Again, I'm not sure what's available for the UK.  No source for this comes
immediately to mind.
 
>
>7) In all of this, I would like to use the simplest possible methods,
>since I am still so much of a novice at this.  A more elegant approach is
>less attractive to me than one that is easy to use.
 
I would suggest taking a step back and questioning whether you should do
the mapping work yourself, and further, whether you should do it on the
computer at all.  You probably could draw the maps by hand, including
plotting 250 places, in less time than it would take you to learn the
software package.  Particularly for a newcomer, it's quite a bit faster to
draw a map by hand than on the computer; the payoff from the computer comes
in revision and in output quality (at least for drawing software).
 
>8) Any other things I should know or think about?
 
I think you might find it useful to talk with Mark Kumler of the Geography
Dept at UC Boulder.  I met him at NACIS last year and just saw him at AAG
last month.  He teaches cartography and could bring you up to date on
what's available on campus.
 
 
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Dennis McClendon, Chicago CartoGraphics     [log in to unmask]