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I have spent almost 15 years in various production and management positions
in large firms involved with surveying & photogrammetry, digital
mapping/GIS and management consulting. I have also accumulated a total of
5 years (at different times) in university research and teaching. While I
can sympathize with Larry Keenan's comments, wishing that map librarians or
university types in general would stay away from custom map creation is a
bit like wishing I were 18 again. (I do, sometimes, but...)
The fact of the matter is that we are now all operating in an emerging
spatial data infrastructure...
...one in which digital map data is available and easily accessible from
libraries, provate companies or across the Internet;
... one in which people can locate themselves to within metres anywhere on
the earth using a hand-held device they purchased at the mall; and
... one in which easy-to-use map viewing and composition tools (like
Arc/View & others) make it possible for anyone -- trained or otherwise,
experienced or otherwise, well-intentioned or otherwise -- to compose and
produce a somewhat good-looking and apparently authoritative map.
Let's put copyright or licencing issues aside for a minute (and most
map/data librarians that I have met are extremely responsible in this
regard). The fact is that low-cost desktop mapping software and the more
fully-functional GIS/image processing packages are giving private mapping
firms the same heartburn and pause for thought that desktop publishing
packages gave to the graphic arts business a few years back. This
phenomenon won't destroy the industry, especially those companies that deal
with collecting new data from scratch. But it will result in some
customers leaving, new customers emerging and -- over time -- most
customers becoming better informed about their requirements, their likes
and their dislikes.
Software will not replace every good professional, but more people with
less experience will be empowered to produce a good-looking product -- and
that's the way it should be. I think it's great that librarians, students,
business analysts and others are paying more attention to spatial data
visualization and presentation.
Don't get me wrong -- I have no doubt some mistakes are being made along
the way (some horrendous, some not). In the long run, though, I also think
that placing easy-to-use mapping tools into the hands of more people
enriches the discipline, promotes a wider use of spatial data products and
encourages a better appreciation of the nuances and expertise required in
good cartographic design and map production.
Don't judge Mr. Keenan's comments too harshly or dismiss his concerns too
hastily. I don't think map librarians and people involved in the map
production/GIS services industries have had much contact with one another
over the years. I suspect the general populations of both groups are only
beginning to realize that they're both important players in a much larger
community.
The dialogue starts in forums like this. I think Mr. Keenan's making a
good start by taking the time to listen in on MAPS-L, to venture an opinion
from time to time, and maybe to graciously take the heat when his opinions
don't mesh with the majority of subscribers on this particular list.
'Nuff, said.
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Dr. David Coleman <[log in to unmask]>
Geographical Engineering Group Tel.1-506-453-4698
Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Fax 1-506-453-4943
University of New Brunswick,
P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick, CANADA E3B 5A3
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