-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: MAPS-L: Avoid 'geographical embarassment'
Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 17:29:19 -0400
From: Sue Hawkins <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Hi all-
I'd like to toss in my two cents' worth as well - the small map company I work for now regularly does field checking. We also use some aerial photography to compare against the municipal data that is out there. Since we are primarily a regional company, field checking is still something we can afford to do with some regularity. Accuracy is critical, but personally I find beauty important too.
---sue h
Cartographer
JIMAPCO, Inc
http://www.jimapco.com
>-------- Original Message --------
>Subject: Re: MAPS-L: Avoid 'geographical embarassment'
>Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 14:23:44 -0500
>From: Nat Case <[log in to unmask]>
>To: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum<[log in to unmask]>
>
>
>
>
>
>Hear hear. Sorry, Jim, but while satellite images are often quite out
>of date, I too have found that street data is pretty good. Especially in
>major urban areas.
>
>The problem is, there's no update date info on online maps, so we don't
>know the last time they were checked. Metadata isn't just for geeks...
>
>Also, in fast-changing areas, the flow of information from planner to
>local mapmaker to data provider to end user may take longer than one
>would like. this is why we historically source out* local* mapping, even
>if next-level-up data (county or state or national) is more consistent,
>legible, or otherwise easier to wrangle.
>
>Actually Hedberg Maps* does* field-check all our maps (or at least those
>at a street map scale or larger), for exactly the reasons Dennis
>suggest. We do work for one of the same phone companies Dennis mentions.
>So that makes two of us...
>
>Generalizing about street map publishers is problematic; there are "hack
>shops" and there are also people out there who really do care about
>spatial accuracy. Even within a company, you will find a considerable
>range of accuracy, due to three major factors:
>
>1. Economics. If a map is not a big seller, a publisher may say, well we
>can justify doing a hasty update, or we can can it. Seems a shame just
>to let the title die on the vine...
>
>2. Geography. If the place is just down the road, it's not a big deal to
>send someone out to drive questionable areas. For us in Minneapolis,
>sending someone to the Bay Area to do field work, is, by comparison, a
>considerable investment
>
>3. Quality of source material:
>Surly/uncooperative government employees.
>Zero-budget cities which haven't updated their official maps in 30 years.
>As Dennis says, cities who do not distinguish right-of-way and driveable
>streets.
>"Sure, you can have the data file for $5000, or you can have this
>out-of-date printout for $10..."
>
>Nat Case
>Hedberg Maps, Inc
>Minneapolis
>
>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: MAPS-L: Avoid 'geographical embarassment'
>> Date: Wed, 17 May 2006
>> From: Dennis McClendon <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum
>> <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>>
>>
>> /
>>
>> Online maps, particularly in urban areas, are based on Navteq or
>> TeleAtlas data, which is field-checked regularly and obsessively enough
>> to be used for vehicle navigation devices. Paper maps seldom receive any
>> field-checking at all, so using a four-year-old satellite image is the
>> least of their problems.
>>
>> My little map company does maps for phone books (for three publishers)
>> in small cities out west. We are the only vendor these companies use
>> that does ANY fieldchecking at all. Commercial companies publishing
>> gas-station maps may do a little fieldchecking or (most likely) none at
>> all. They rely almost entirely on information from local governments,
>> which typically keep track of where rights of way have been dedicated,
>> not where streets actually exist. It's not unusual for me to discover
>> that 5-8 percent of the local government map for an area is complete
>> fiction, showing non-existent "paper" streets, not showing cut-throughs
>> that people have carved across public land, showing different names than
>> on the street sign, or failing to note where through streets have been
>> barricaded to frustrate through traffic.
>>
>>
>> Dennis McClendon, Chicago CartoGraphics
>> http://www.chicagocarto.com/
>>
>>
>>
>> /
>> http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/business-talking-tech/2006/05/avoid-geographical-embarassment/
>>> Article from the St. Louis Dispatch interviewing, of all things, a map
>>> librarian about maps!! Way to go Jim!
>>
>>
>>
>> //
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