ID: 2031
Presenting Author: Douglas Tilbury
Session: 526 - The Truth Tangle: Untying Misinformation in Impact Assessment
Status: pending
GIS users make hundreds of choices, both conscious and subconscious, which affect how data is portrayed to the reader. So – what are the right questions to ask yourself, when reading a map?
With its myriad applications in the collection, analysis and discharge of information, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) increasingly bridges the communication gap between subject matter experts and laypeople. The sheer number of available GIS-based operations is staggering, allowing users to approach and model innumerable real-world problems from the comfort of their home or office.
The accelerated uptake of GIS has allowed practitioners to incorporate mapping products into nearly every facet of impact assessment and associated legislative processes. However, in the development of their outputs, GIS users make hundreds of choices, both conscious and subconscious, which affect how this information is portrayed to the reader.
This presentation will examine the intentional and subconscious biases imparted by the cartographer in their deliverables, looking at how the selection of applied tools, data manipulations, symbology and ultimate presentation can be used to guide the narrative for the reader. Using a series of examples, the concepts, statistical phenomena, and terminology used in map-making will be reviewed, identifying common approaches taken by cartographers in order to get their point across.
So the next time you see an impactful map on the news, online or when reviewing a document, what questions should you be asking yourself?
Doug is a Chartered Environmentalist, full-time ecologist and part-time GIS nerd. Based in Kenya, he has worked across Africa and the Middle East in a variety of environmental disciplines.