Open Geographic Information Systems

The cloud is growing in importance for GIS professionals, with cost efficiency, scalability, and flexibility as major drivers. We can see the beginnings of cloud options for many organizations with the ability to run ArcGIS Server ...

Maps mean different things to different people. So what is a map?

My definition is simple: a map is an answer to a question.

There are three basic kinds of maps that answer three basic types of questions:

* The Location map answers the question, “Where am I?”
* The Navigation map answers the question, “How do I get there?”
* The Spatial Relationships map answers the question “How are these things related?”

It’s this third type of map—a map that helps in our understanding of spatial patterns and relationships—where we as GIS professionals spend most of our time. We work hard making our maps. Our maps can be beautiful works of art, but that’s not why we make them. We make them to answer a question, to solve a problem, and to advance our understanding. And therein lies the power of the map.

Even the best maps have no power by themselves; they just exist, like the maps you hang on your office wall, or the maps in the world atlas sitting on your bookshelf. But depending on how they are created, and how they are used, maps can have tremendous power.

For a map to become truly powerful requires two things. First, they need to tell a story. Second, they need to be put in people’s hands.

Although these were designed specifically for GIS day during Geography Awareness Week, these 2 excellent map-based treasure hunts from ESRI are great any time of year.  The answer to the question will only pop up in you are zoomed in the the right region (SHIFT + Make a box = Zoom to area).  These links will take you to the World Cities quiz and also to the Mountains quiz.