Discussion Topics

Chapter 3: Maps for the Mind

• Are maps made for the mind or are maps made for the medium?

• Does the mention of a place always lead to the formation of a mental map? Can this mental map be examined to acquire information or is it simply ephemeral

• Can mental maps be dynamic? Give an example.

• Can you conceive of a mental map animation?

• Describe different types of computer user interfaces?

• What is a GUI? What are the elements of a GUI interface? In what sense is it graphical?

• What does a computer's user interface affect people? Is an easy-to-use interface less challenging and therefore stupifying? Is the use of a graphical user interface less conceptually-based (because words, which embody concepts, are not used) and therefore less edifying?

• Examine the user interface in common household items.

• Describe the interface in maps.

• Describe different types of interaction that might be possible with a road map. A thematic map.

• The animation of maps was first proposed in the late 1950's. Why hasn't it replaced static mapping?

• What is the difference between a temporal and a non-temporal animation?

• What is a generalization animation? Give an example.

• How do we define cartographic animation?

• What is brushing, reordering, and pacing? Give an example of each.

• How can animation be part of the user interface?

  
  

• What is the importance of interaction in learning? Why has interaction been neglected in cartography? What effect has the lack of interaction had on map use?

• A map on paper depicts a part of the earth at an instant in time. Can a single frame of a cartographic animation be defined in the same way?

• Is the definition of the word "map' a function of the current technology? We now refer to a single depiction on paper as a map. Will we eventually use the same word to an entire series of maps in an animation?