GeoTopic of week: Definition of a map

Maps come in many varieties. Typically in Research360 you will see site, thematic and territory maps. I will cover more on those in a moment.  Based on my professional map drawing experience, yes, I was a cartographer* for AAA, maps require a few items to be called a map.  Remember, these “rules” are not set in stone. To me, if you draw some lines and arrows and it helps me get from point A to point B, I say that qualifies as a map.  Who am I to say what your map MUST have.  The most important and only thing it MUST do is get a message across to the user.  Technically speaking your map will need a title, legend, scale and a north arrow.  Sounds simple enough right?

I am sure you have all created or used a site map, a map representing a location that you are interested in viewing its surroundings.  Let’s say you were opening a coffee shop and you have a site available to you. You create a map with that site but you may want more info. You probably want to make sure you are in a busy area with plenty of people driving by to stop at your location. If this is the case you can add traffic counts to your map. You may also want to make sure there aren’t any Starbucks close by (that is pretty difficult since they seem to be everywhere…they are the cockroach of the retail industry right?…yes, I am a coffee addict.) so locating your competitors and adding them to your map is key.  All this data will help you make a decision based on your surroundings.   As to other data, such as the type of clientele you are after, you will have to create a thematic map.

Thematic maps will allow you to display data that you don’t have as a point or site. Hopefully you know what demographic you client will be. A thematic map will allow you to find those areas that have high densities of your client base. One example of a thematic use the color range “red is hot, blue is not” to show you where your ideal areas are. Now you may be asking, “Why can’t I have all this info on one map?” You can!  It’s very simple to incorporate both maps and can be done in Research360.

To sum it all up, maps need to convey a message. Whether it is directions from your house to your kid’s little league game across town or a thematic site map showing adult population distribution and traffic counts around your soon to be opened coffee shop, your map is a geographical story.

Don’t be afraid to ask for directions,

rich@geo-e

*Cartographer: one who draws maps.