4 - Making maps

Abstract

This chapter emphasizes the elements or components that are important in developing a professional and informative map product. When they involve text, these components range from a map title, annotation, labels, warranties, disclaimers, scales, and legends, among others. Graphical map components involve the use of a north arrow to describe orientation, a scale bar to illustrate the scale of the map, and hundreds or thousands of potential symbols to illustrate the location of resources on the map. Neat lines, insets, and graticules involve the use of line features to set apart information or to more directly provide a means for location and orientation on a map. At the end of the chapter, a discussion is provided on the categorization and description of some common map types. This section introduces the concepts of thematic, choropleth, isopleth, hypsometric, dasymetric, and online maps, among others.