All three require understanding the nature of geographic data, or information. The principle characteristic of geographic data is that the objects that the data describe are things that we see in the world around us. They can be of any size, or any function; they can be alive or inanimate; they can be stationary or mobile. Any of these types of objects can be mapped. Sometimes we can map the individuals and try to explain their behavior. Other times we can count aggregate numbers of things and look for patterns or changes in their quantities.
Geographic information is, above all, spatial; that is, geographic information relates to spatially identifiable features. That is the key trait that distinguishes geography from every other discipline. The spatial nature of geography is most evident in the primary tool of the geographer: the map. Your comfort level using maps has risen this semester. You can see spatially recordable or researchable phenomena in many more elements of your surroundings than you could when the semester began. You can see the potential for expressing many of those surrounding elements as spatial information, and for portraying them using maps.
You have also become something of a cartographer, able to make basic maps. You have not learned to use any of the high-end features of your mapping software, but you have learned enough about what makes a good map that you could do it. That is a very marketable skill, especially if you work at improving it. A very important course for you to take here at MU now is GEOG 295 Geographic Information Systems. I strongly recommend that you take it as soon as possible, whether you are a geography major or not.
If you have learned a little bit about GIS, you know that geographic information is best conceptualized as a data table linked to a map layer. If you have learned enough about thematic (and, now, topographic) maps, you know what type of map best fits any data variable and any type of geographic feature.
The vast majority of maps that we use are representations of surface areas of the Earth, but one of the challenges of creating those maps is how to represent the size and shape of the Earth or any of those landscape (human-made or natural) features accurately and realistically. This led us into issues of how to identify locations, both of points or lines and of areas, how to lay out a spherical Earth on a flat map representation, how to measure and report direction, and how to represent the unevenness of the Earth’s surface.
Cartographers have found solutions to all of these challenges, as you have seen. We looked at US Geological Survey quadrangles, which represent one set of those solutions.
Now that you have seen examples of all of these earth/map features, the maps that you encounter every day should be less mysterious to you. You have been taught about the inner workings of these maps, which are transferrable to other similar maps, and how the maps can be used to translate observable information into accurate measurements and representations. But each of those solutions has its limitations, too, since they are representations of the real world.
You have, we hope, become something of a map detective. If your continued studies take you into any human or natural environment, you have learned some of the principles for using maps to investigate that environment. You know that there are processes at work guiding both natural changes to the Earth, and human changes to the landscape. For example, you know that contours tell you which way water flows in streams and rivers, and that the layout of roads in a developed area can help you make reasonable guesses about when that development was constructed. Being aware of the limitations of maps to represent information, you can judge how reasonable those estimates are.
All of our investigations into maps have hopefully shown you their value as a research tool. All macro-scale research is inherently geographical. Whether it is about people or the natural environment (and especially if it is any combination of the two), where you conduct your research has as much influence on your outcomes as any other feature you study of that topic. Use maps to show context, and use maps to display research data. We didn’t stress it in this part of the course, but GIS again becomes a valuable tool for doing so.
Hopefully, through your varied experiences with maps in this course, you have become something of a map critic. Maps have been implemented in ways that an increasing number of people encounter, as on-line and GPS-based maps become more common. But each of those solutions has its limitations, since they are representations of the real world. Perhaps you no longer trust them as much as you did when the course began, because you recognize that there are a lot of very human decisions and assumptions that go into making them. You should also recognize that computer technology has made it easier to make maps, but not necessarily to make good maps.
There are two things I wish for you: