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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(or reductions) of unpublished sketch maps first constructed at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]
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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
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