Moving knowledge
around: negotiated
Project summary
Maps evoke travel,
exotic places and the allure of the unknown. Without a map, there would be no
way to know precisely where you are. There is no ‘here’ without
‘there’. There is no world without a map.
Van Swaaij. L & Klare. J (2000) The Atlas of Experience, London: Bloomsbury.
The purpose of this project is to share with several organisations various ways in which a green map http://www.greenmap.org could be created for a specific region of Cornwall.
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust will be streamed into new formats utilising software such as Cold Fusion. In addition, other types of data (written and oral) from Kerrier District Council (the region chosen to work with) will be placed into the new formats and related to the GIS data.
The project will draw on two previous projects ‘green thought environments’ and ‘a flock of thoughts’. These projects focused on a potential green map end-user group and asked, - What did they want to find on a map to help them discover what the state of their environment was like? This project will focus on several potential green map information providers. (A subsequent project will start to draw the end-user and information provider together. In the future a green map will be built for Cornwall that will look at the synonymous relationship between information provider and end user – For instance, it has been realised that each group will provide data for the map but each group will also use the map to access information.)
Sites such as the following
will form part of the research
http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/
http://www.sustrans.org.uk
http://www.landmark-information.co.uk
http://www.cornwall.gov.uk
This project will seek to look at what information providers want to ‘evoke’ for the end user. Discovery's made will be shared with other information providers. A first prototype will be presented at an international green map making conference in Italy. A second presentation will be showcased at an environmental data holder’s conference in Cornwall in February.
Development
This project will draw upon the core module criteria and develop the first mechanics
of how a green map could work.
Throughout the process, I will liaise
with information provides such as The Wildlife Trust
http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/
Kerrier District Council http://www.cornwall.gov.uk
and Sustrans http://www.sustrans.org.uk
I will be investigating the possibilities of ‘re-using’ and re-presenting
GIS data.
There are three key questions to address. To be able to answer them I will work closely with a programmer.
1. What is the best way to move GIS
data out of its geographical home?
2. What is the best software to empty/stream GIS data into?
3. What could it start to look and behave like once moved and placed into new
software?
Plan of work
Oct - Nov: Develop concept through research and secure
data for use
Nov 10th:
Production starts
Nov 28th:
First prototype
Dec 1st: 1st presentation to Green Map Systems
Dec - Jan:
Develop design
Jan 17th:
Final production
Feb 14th: 2nd Presentation to ERIN
Output
I will be creating the first mechanical workings of a green map for Cornwall.
I anticipate using software such as Illustrator, Photoshop and Flash and languages such as Html, Cold Fusion and Action scripting.
Criteria
To be clarified.
A Bibliography will be built
around 3 subjects
1. GIS data
2. Information providers
3. Visualising information