Considering Innovations in Cartography and Changes in Geographic Representation Methods

Maps and map related objects are produced to represent geography. They range from paper maps to virtual installations, delivered using technologies that range from printing (traditional, on-demand and distributed) to the Internet (wired and wireless, desktop-facilitated and mobile). The underpinnings of the design and delivery of these representations are, and have been, linked to developments in theory and technology applied to the geosciences. These underpinning theories and technologies have been developed and applied throughout the course of the historical development of cartography and GI Science. This paper provides the results of a research project that was undertaken to ascertain how different thinking about what constitutes an artefact can be used to communicate information about geography. It has defined and investigated the development of different approaches to the depiction of geography in four eras: ‘Historical’; the ‘start’ of technology (1960s); the era of technological advancement (1990s); and the era of ‘modern’ technology. The paper reports on the findings, under these four ‘era’ headings and how cartographic artefacts have been employed for navigation, spatial analysis and the representation of 3-space + time.