--- Begin Forwarded Message --- Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 11:41:37 +0100 From: Andrew Cook <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Cataloging maps with a bad scale bar <fwd> Sender: Andrew Cook <[log in to unmask]> I was about to respond along the same lines as Nancy Kandoian when I when I saw her thoughtful modification. The problem comes up sufficiently often in an archive collection with office enlargements (or reductions) of unpublished sketch maps first constructed at standard scales. I don't try to compute a false RF from unit data I know to be wrong, lest the act of computation should be mistaken by users to validate in some way the measured quantities. I prefer this: 'Scale given as 8 miles to 5.75 inches, but actually ca. 1:230,000' I'd be glad to know of others' reactions on a connected point. When computing an RF from a scale bar, or estimating it from a measured distance on the map, should one ever go beyond two significant figures in the RF calculation, e.g. 1:7500 or 1:15,000,000? Only if it's plain that the mapmaker's scale bar is intended to represent a known inch-to-mile scale would I presume to supply a more precise RF, e.g. Scale of 20 miles [= 5.3 inches (approximately 4 miles to 1 inch or 1:253,440)]. Andrew Cook Dr Andrew S Cook Map Archivist India Office Records The British Library 96 Euston Road Telephone +44 20 7412 7828 London NW1 2DB Fax +44 20 7412 7641/7858 United Kingdom E-mail: [log in to unmask] ______________________________ Forward Header ________________________ Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 18:44:20 -0400 From: nkandoian <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Cataloging maps with a bad scale bar <fwd> Sender: nkandoian <[log in to unmask]> I once had the situation of a natural scale printed on a map being incorrect, and I handled it by quoting the scale as indicated on the map, following by the corrected scale in square brackets: Scale 1:13,000 [i.e. 1:130,000?]. (I used a question mark instead of "ca." because it seemed like 1:130,000 was correct and the map maker had just left out a zero.) In your situation, since you are converting to (approximating) a natural scale anyway, how about putting only the correct scale in the 255, with "ca." and in square brackets, and then adding a 500 note something like "Scale bar incorrectly indicates a scale of ca. ..."? And there you could either put a natural scale based on the bar scale, or use the units of the bar scale and express them in inches or centimeters. Nancy Kandoian Map Division NYPL [log in to unmask] --- End Forwarded Message ---