Number 40, Fall 2001

journal of the Northcartographic perspectivesInformation Society

American Cartographic 

cartographic perspectives

Number 40, Fall 2001

in this issue Letter from the Editor

essay
The Future Is Now: a Map Librarian’s Response to “The Map 4 Rediscovering Cartography
Library’s Future” By James E. Meacham, NACIS
Scott R. McEathron President, 2001-2002

The Map Library’s Future Revisited: A Response 9 I am pleased to report that our
C. Peter Keller organization is growing and I
sense a general feeling of opti-
featured articles mism, opportunity and strong
Mapping Ethnicity: Color Use in Depicting Ethnic Distribution 12 commitment in our ranks. We
Jenny Marie Johnson have seen a substantial growth in
NACIS membership and meeting
Henry Reed’s Poetic Map of Verona: (Di)versifying the 32 attendance over the last five years
Teaching of Geography, IV (see figure 1). At the 1997 Lexing-
Adele J. Haft ton meeting the attendance was
107 with a membership of 381. At
CARTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES last year’s meeting in Portland the
Mapping for the Internet with Macromedia Director 52 membership had grown to 485 and
Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso the meeting attendance had more
than doubled to 231. The pre-con-
BOOK REVIEWS ference event last year in Portland,
The Grammar of Graphics 55 “Practical Cartography Day,” was
Reviewed by Russell S. Kirby also enormously successful, with
105 participants, including 65
The New Nature of Maps: Essays in the History of Cartography 56 more than was originally planned
Reviewed by Mark Monmonier for. This is good news indeed. In a
time when some have questioned
FEATURED ARTICLE FIGURES 59 the vitality of cartography, we are

(continued on page 3)

NACIS WEB SITE

www.nacis.org
 cartographic perspectives
Editor
Scott M. Freundschuh
Department of Geography
University of Minnesota
Duluth, MN 55812
(218) 726-6226
fax: (218) 726-6386
sfreunds@d.umn.edu
Assistant Editor
James R. Anderson, Jr.
FREAC
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-2641
(850) 644-2883
fax: (850) 644-7360
janderson@admin.fsu.edu
Book Review Editor
Ren Vasiliev
Department of Geography
SUNY @ Geneseo
Geneseo, NY 14454
(585) 245-5297
vasiliev@geneseo.edu
Cartographic Perspectives
EDITORIAL BOARD
Gary Allen
University of South Carolina
Aileen Buckley
University of Oregon
Jeremy Crampton
Georgia State University
Sara Fabrikant
Univ. of Calif. - Santa Barbara
Ken Foote
University of Colorado
Pat Gilmartin
University of South Carolina
John Krygier
Ohio Wesleyan University
ISSN 1048-9085
Bob Lloyd
Cartographic Perspectives
University of South
is published Carolina
triannually
cartographic
journal of the
North American Cartographic Information Society
ISSN 1048-9085
Cartographic Perspectives is published triannually
Cartographic Techniques Editor
Charlie Frye
ESRI
380 New York Street
Redlands, CA 92373
(909) 793-2853
cfrye@esri.com
Essay Section Editor
Matthew McGranaghan
Department of Geography
445 Social Sciences Building
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, HI 96822
(808) 956-7092
matt@uhunix2.its.hawaii.edu
Matt McGranaghan
University of Hawaii
Janet Mersey
University of Guelph
Liz Nelson
Univ. of N. Carolina - Greensboro
Margaret Pearce
Humboldt State University
Michael Peterson
Univ. of Nebraska - Omaha
Ren Vasiliev
State Univ. of New York at Geneseo
Carolyn Weiss
Statistics Canada
Number 40, Fall 2001
perspectives
Map Library Bulletin Board Editor
Melissa Lamont
Data Library, McLean Laboratory
Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution
WHOI Mail Stop 8
Woods Hole, MA 02543
(508)289-3396 fax: (508)457-2183
mlamont@whoi.edu
Online Mapping Editor
Jeremy W. Crampton
Dept. of Anthropology & Geography
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 651-1763
jcrampton@gsu.edu
about the cover
“The cover design was created by Lou
Cross. Lou is a cartographer and graphic
artist with the Florida Resources and
Environmental Analysis Center at The
Florida State University.
Verona collage, a tribute to Adele Haft’s
article in this issue discussing Henry
Reed’s Poetic Map of Verona. The map
overlay taken from the Baedeker Fold-
out map of Verona, 1928; The view of
the River Adige from a postcard circa
1945; Poetry excerpt from Henry Reed’s
“A Map of Verona” 1942/1946.
 Number 40, Fall 2001
seeing a substantial growth in our
field.
I believe cartography is experi-
encing something of a rediscovery.
From my point of view as a univer-
sity cartography lab director and
an active member of NACIS, I see
substantial growth and renewed
interest in cartography on several
fronts in government, private
industry, academia and the general
public. In addition, the GIS com-
munity is turning out to a valuable
partner rather than a threat to our
profession. We need to move past
the Cartography versus GIS debate
(Tyner, 2001). I believe cartogra-
phy is experiencing part of the
increased awareness and growth
that its parent discipline of geogra-
phy and sister discipline of GIS are
experiencing (National Research
Council, 1997 and Goodchild,
2000).
The vitality of our field can
especially be seen in the work of
our membership. NACIS members
are embracing opportunities on
all mapping fronts, applying their
cartographic craft and tools in very
innovative and effective ways.
They are making a difference in all
disciplines that rely on spatial data
from resource planning and envi-
ronmental science to demographic
studies and parks management.
These efforts do not go unnoticed.
Decision-makers and the public are
rediscovering the importance of
cartography through these efforts.
These activities are defining us.
Through my work in the UO
InfoGraphics Lab, I see first hand
that government administrators
and the rapidly expanding GIS
community is rediscovering our
profession and seeking us out for
our knowledge and skills. We are
the ones that can turn their rich
databases and analyses - that are at
the heart of their work - into well-
cartographic perspectives 
References
Goodchild, Michael F., 2000. “Car-
tographic Futures On a Digital
Earth.” Cartographic Perspectives
36:3-11.
Tyner, Judith, 2001. “Whither Car-
tography?” Cartographic Perspec-
tives 38:3-6.
National Research Council, 1997.
Rediscovering Geography: New Rele-
vance for Science and Society (Wash-
ington, D.C.: National Academy
Press, xiv and 234 pp.
designed data-rich print products
and digital delivery systems. Acknowledgments
These products greatly assist them
to fulfill their missions. My lab is I would to acknowledge the help-
seeing a rapid increase in these ful comments from Erik Steiner
types of projects. We have put our and Kenneth Kato on this essay.
cartographic knowledge to work
on projects ranging from commu- August 30, 2002
nicating Oregon’s salmon recovery
effort though maps and graphs, to
building a comprehensive plan-
ning database of rural lands in our
state. Students gain invaluable
experience through these projects.
In our department we have
noted increased demand for
graduating students with carto-
graphic design skills, in addition to
the traditional GIS concepts, from
both the public and private sectors.
This is another significant indica-
tor of the health of our field and
our future.
As cartographers, we are in a
vital period, a period of rediscov-
ery. We must continue to embrace
opportunities to apply our knowl-
edge and skill in exciting and
innovative ways. NACIS is both
at the heart and the forefront of
cartography. The NACIS commu-
nity is strong and has the energy
and the obligation to set the tone
and the path for the future of our
profession.