This is my blog. This is for you.
Alright, so for those of you not very familiar, I'm not actually going down to New Orleans to see the sights. Bourbon Street, well, I might go there, but I'm headed out for different reasons. I'm going to make maps.
I've been making maps for over five years now, cruder ones before that, which we'll ignore for now. Over these five years, I've noticed a progression of mapping interests. At first, I just wanted to make something useful that was pleasing to the eye. Then it became wanting to meld artistic maps with the technological progression and tools of GIS.* Starting about eighteen months ago, I began to want something more: to make maps for people who need maps, not for people who just want another thing that looks good.
Maps are an interesting phenomenon. Any old yahoo can put something on a map, and you know what, you'll believe it! Maps are powerful things, more so than books, because a book isn't a representation of the earth. The earth doesn't lie, does it? It doesn't, but cartographers do!
We're lazy! If we don't want to spend the time doing something, we'll take short cuts!
We're opinionated! Honestly, the coastline Santa Catalina Island could look more interesting...and I've made it more interesting before! You'd never know though, but you probably liked what you saw!
It's a might power we have, especially since people put much trust in our work. Consider them white lies. Its not like we're out to get you...we're just out to make you a better map.
Going back to that original point, however, is the power of maps. Maps can do a tremendous amount of good, because they show information in a manner that the illiterate can typically comprehend. Often, their meaning transcend cultural boundaries. A good map, can be understood and appreciated by anyone. A good map, can do good.
That's my current bent on making maps. Doing good through a good map. I've worked in places before where the main goal is to create a map that looks amazing on a wall, or that illustrates a point to students, or that raises the property values of an already well off, typically white neighborhood. I've made some amazing maps for those groups, and in all but the latter case, I look forward to doing it again. But you know what? There are communities out there that depend on what a map shows (http://www.nativelands.org/bin/view.pl/41003.html). There are people whose existence depends on maps showing the true state of their conditions (http://www.povertymap.net/publications/doc/iucn_2004/stunting.cfm). These are people who need maps. Well done maps, which can better their situation. I like to think that I can do that.
You all have probably heard the news, and if not, a good chunk of the southern gulf region of the USA was leveled by Hurricane Katrina. This area is, was, will be again, heavily populated. Thus, there are now a lot of people who need some maps. Why do they need maps when they have nothing else? Because maps are tools. Eventually, residents will return to their homes, and they'll need to know where to get help. Its not like taking the truck down to Home Depot will be a typical Saturday afternoon trip, especially when roads have been washed out, Home Depot is closed, or what you really just need is a huge tarp to put over your house to keep some water out. Maybe what's more important is finding a pharmacy or hospital that is open. Or perhaps you need to now where the Red Cross is handing out food, because you don't have any and your electrical line has been knocked out so you have no lines of communication, other than what's in your immediate vicinity. Maps can show you where to get this stuff.
Maps can also be used to help coordinate the relief effort. The information gathered and displayed on maps often comes from a variety of groups, and can represent nearly anything. Maps can show where assistance locations are, as well as where assistance needs to be given. Thus, maps can be used by residents, and by local officials. By working with both of these groups, relief work becomes efficient, with a rapid response. GIS technology makes this possible, in that maps can be generated quickly, and adjusted to fit a variety of uses. With a few clicks of a mouse, what was once a city street map, can be transformed to show poverty levels with an overlay of open food outlets and the travel time to those outlets by the local population. Click another button, and we can display areas that were flooded, and by how much. Another click, and we can show the sources of malfunctioning water sources. The options are limited to only what data you can get your hands on, and the internet makes a lot of data available.
So this is what I'm going down to do. I got a laptop, a GPS unit, a sleeping bag, and some other stuff. I also need to get some sleep, because in about 5 hours, I'll be boarding a flight to Detroit, and then a flight to New Orleans.**
Anyways, I need to pack.
Brody.
________________
* If I hold your interest, you should figure out what GIS is. Its late, I need to pack, so I won't tell you right now. In the meantime, Google is totally useful.
** This may not happen as planned. There is what you might call a really huge hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico right now. It is really huge and is about to mess some stuff up. If I were a plane, I wouldn't fly towards such a thing. But hey, I got a ticket on one, so we'll see what happens.
I've been making maps for over five years now, cruder ones before that, which we'll ignore for now. Over these five years, I've noticed a progression of mapping interests. At first, I just wanted to make something useful that was pleasing to the eye. Then it became wanting to meld artistic maps with the technological progression and tools of GIS.* Starting about eighteen months ago, I began to want something more: to make maps for people who need maps, not for people who just want another thing that looks good.
Maps are an interesting phenomenon. Any old yahoo can put something on a map, and you know what, you'll believe it! Maps are powerful things, more so than books, because a book isn't a representation of the earth. The earth doesn't lie, does it? It doesn't, but cartographers do!
We're lazy! If we don't want to spend the time doing something, we'll take short cuts!
We're opinionated! Honestly, the coastline Santa Catalina Island could look more interesting...and I've made it more interesting before! You'd never know though, but you probably liked what you saw!
It's a might power we have, especially since people put much trust in our work. Consider them white lies. Its not like we're out to get you...we're just out to make you a better map.
Going back to that original point, however, is the power of maps. Maps can do a tremendous amount of good, because they show information in a manner that the illiterate can typically comprehend. Often, their meaning transcend cultural boundaries. A good map, can be understood and appreciated by anyone. A good map, can do good.
That's my current bent on making maps. Doing good through a good map. I've worked in places before where the main goal is to create a map that looks amazing on a wall, or that illustrates a point to students, or that raises the property values of an already well off, typically white neighborhood. I've made some amazing maps for those groups, and in all but the latter case, I look forward to doing it again. But you know what? There are communities out there that depend on what a map shows (http://www.nativelands.org/bin/view.pl/41003.html). There are people whose existence depends on maps showing the true state of their conditions (http://www.povertymap.net/publications/doc/iucn_2004/stunting.cfm). These are people who need maps. Well done maps, which can better their situation. I like to think that I can do that.
You all have probably heard the news, and if not, a good chunk of the southern gulf region of the USA was leveled by Hurricane Katrina. This area is, was, will be again, heavily populated. Thus, there are now a lot of people who need some maps. Why do they need maps when they have nothing else? Because maps are tools. Eventually, residents will return to their homes, and they'll need to know where to get help. Its not like taking the truck down to Home Depot will be a typical Saturday afternoon trip, especially when roads have been washed out, Home Depot is closed, or what you really just need is a huge tarp to put over your house to keep some water out. Maybe what's more important is finding a pharmacy or hospital that is open. Or perhaps you need to now where the Red Cross is handing out food, because you don't have any and your electrical line has been knocked out so you have no lines of communication, other than what's in your immediate vicinity. Maps can show you where to get this stuff.
Maps can also be used to help coordinate the relief effort. The information gathered and displayed on maps often comes from a variety of groups, and can represent nearly anything. Maps can show where assistance locations are, as well as where assistance needs to be given. Thus, maps can be used by residents, and by local officials. By working with both of these groups, relief work becomes efficient, with a rapid response. GIS technology makes this possible, in that maps can be generated quickly, and adjusted to fit a variety of uses. With a few clicks of a mouse, what was once a city street map, can be transformed to show poverty levels with an overlay of open food outlets and the travel time to those outlets by the local population. Click another button, and we can display areas that were flooded, and by how much. Another click, and we can show the sources of malfunctioning water sources. The options are limited to only what data you can get your hands on, and the internet makes a lot of data available.
So this is what I'm going down to do. I got a laptop, a GPS unit, a sleeping bag, and some other stuff. I also need to get some sleep, because in about 5 hours, I'll be boarding a flight to Detroit, and then a flight to New Orleans.**
Anyways, I need to pack.
Brody.
________________
* If I hold your interest, you should figure out what GIS is. Its late, I need to pack, so I won't tell you right now. In the meantime, Google is totally useful.
** This may not happen as planned. There is what you might call a really huge hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico right now. It is really huge and is about to mess some stuff up. If I were a plane, I wouldn't fly towards such a thing. But hey, I got a ticket on one, so we'll see what happens.
posted by B at
3:13 AM
