Mapping With Drupal - Alan Palazzolo [4]
Most of what we see on maps we tend to believe without much thought, such as the national boundary of France, but other boundaries, such as the areas of Israel and Palestine, are currently disputed by many people, and maps help represent and define those positions. Maps are not wholly objective as discussed above. Maps can lie; even when no deceit is intended, the best mapping can, and often does, mislead for specific purposes. And even if what your map asserts may be trivial, by using map APIs such as Google or Bing map tiles, you are asserting all of the ideas and ideologies of that service as well as your own.
All this is to say that mapmakers are not cognitive agents parachuted into a pre-given world with a chain and a theodolite, to measure and record what they find there. Rather, they’re extraordinarily selective creators of a world—not the world, but a world—whose features they bring into being with a map. Mapmakers propose this, not that, observe these things, not those...
--Denis Woods, Rethinking the Power of Maps, page 51
As a quick example, take a look at this map of California from 1940, which focuses on trying to convince the user that California an amazing place with lots of fun opportunities (Figure 1-2). This is in stark contrast to what a modern Google Maps Road Map of California does, focusing on providing road data and specific relevant features (Figure 1-3).
Figure 1-2. California, the Golden State, found at downtown.losbangeles.com
Figure 1-3. California as seen from the Road Map layer on maps.google.com
Conversations in Maps
In modern life, maps have become an almost instinctive way of seeing our world. In fact, they are our strongest, practically our only, way to perceive the world around us as a whole (given that most of us don’t get to go on a space walk). Maps are in the glove compartments of our cars, on our phones, in the newspaper, on hospital walls, and on the streets. It is hard to imagine a world without maps: indeed, without maps, it is hard to imagine a world.
What did we do before maps? Well, we had many other mechanisms to describe place and boundaries. The most important was language; people described where things were by referencing common ideas and objects. This conversation involved both telling and asking about place and detail. Your maps are in conversation with your users. With computer-based mapping, especially web mapping, interactivity allows the map to talk back to the user, whether it be a pop up with more detailed information, by being able to zoom out to see more of the world, or a hint on what is nearby. Your map should be a lucid, truthful, and friendly conversationalist.
Why Use Maps
So why map at all, and why make maps on your website? As described in the previous sections, mapping is not an inherently objective way to display data: maps are a mechanism for having a conversation, telling a story, or persuading; a map is a communication tool and an art. Still, it is important to decide if this will enhance your web application, and ultimately give your users a better experience, whatever that may be. Maps can be a bad idea.
Think about your audience. Does your audience know how to use a web map? Google Maps has defined the modern web mapping experience, and in doing so has brought many Internet users to this common map interface. Still, not all of your audience may be capable of navigating this interface. Keep this in mind if you are adding on new interactive features to a map: what makes it more useful to many will also make it more incomprehensible to some.
Does your data have geographical relevance? In general, if your data mentions place