Syllabus

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GEOG 581 Cartographic Design
(Advanced GIS-based mapping and Web-based cartographic techniques)
(Fall 2004) Web site ' http://map.sdsu.edu/geog581/

Lectures: Thur. 12:30pm - 13:20pm (SH248), 14:00am-14:50pm (SH338)
Labs: Thur. 15:00pm - 16:40pm Lab room: Storm Hall 338

Instructor: Dr. Ming-Hsiang Tsou
Storm Hall 326
mtsou@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hour: Monday 4:00pm-5:00pm, Tuesday 11:00am-12:00am,
or by appt. (619) 594-0205 No TA for this course.

Overview:

Effective cartographic design is the key to a successful communication between map makers and map readers. This course will focus on computer-assisted map production techniques with emphasis on GIS mapping tools (ArcGIS and ArcIMS) and web-based cartographic design issues (Animation and Visualization). Geovisualization and communication will be the two major cartographic topics focused in lecture sessions. The lab exercises will introduce ArcGIS extensions (such as Maplex, PLTS and 3D tools) for the design of large-size professional paper maps. Web-based multimedia software (Flash) will also be used for the design of web-based interactive maps. The learning goals of this course are

Required Textbooks:

MacEachren, Alan M. (2004). How Maps Work: Representation, Visualization, and Design. New York: The Guilford Press. (Paper Back Edition) ISBN: 157230040X.

Slocum, Terry A., McMaster, Robert B., Kesssler, Fritz C, and Howard, Hugh H. (2004). Thematic Cartography and Visualization. (Second Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0130351237.

Lectures:
Lectures focus on advanced topics of cartographic design, including geovisualization and communication theories. Also, web-based cartography and the state-of-the-art mapping tools will be introduced and demonstrated in the lecture sessions.

Lab Exercises: The lab exercises will focus on the practical GIS software trainings in ArcGIS cartographic functions and web design tools for Internet mapping services. Students must attend each lab session. Lab exercises focus on the training of cartographic design skills by using ArcGIS, ArcIMS and Flash software package.

Grading: Midterm exam 25%, Lab exercises 30%, Group project and Web design 40%,
Class participation (assignments) 5%.

Graduate students will have an additional assignment (one short essay for related cartographic research topics). (Additional 10% ) The short essay should be double-spaces, 12-point fonts and between 4 - 6 pages. Examples of essay topics are the following (you can choose your own topics):
1. The history and development of web-based mapping techniques.
2. The differences between geovisualization paradigm and communication paradigm.
3. GIS vs. Cartography: What are the differences between them?
4. Color use for qualitative data.
(Find more topics from the Cartography and Geographic Information Science Journal).

Group Project: 2-3 students will form a group project for web-based design exercises. Details will be announced before the mid-term exam.

WEEK             LECTURE                                   READING               LAB EXERCISE

Additional Readings: (one copy of these papers in the Geography Reading Room SH 319 and electronic copies in the Z:/data/readings/ drive)

1. Buttenfield, B. P. (1998). Looking Forward: Geographic Information Services and Libraries in the Future. Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, Vol 25(3), pp. 161-171.
2. Chrisman, N. R. (1998). Rethinking Levels of Measurement for Cartography. Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, Vol 25(4), pp. 231-242.
3. Clarke, K. C., Dana, P. H. and Hastings, J. T. (2002) "A new world geographic reference system", Cartography and Geographic Information Science, vol. 29 (4), pp. 355-362.
4. Tobler, W. R. (1976). Analytical Cartography. The American Cartography, Vol 3 (1), pp. 21-31. URL: http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~tobler/publications/pdf_docs/cartography/Analytic_1.pdf
5. Tsou, M. H. (2004). Present realities and the future of Internet GIS. GIS@development, Vol 8(7), pp. 29-32.