MAPS, MAPS, MAPS! (LAB 1)

http://www.helmink.com/Antique_Map_Ortelius_Iceland/Scans/Ortelius%20Iceland%201.jpg

I got this old map (year 1587) of Iceland from the site “Antique Map and Atlases”.  The map shows various types of land formation such as rows of mountains, a volcano (seems to me) and some hills.  I don’t really see any roads, there were probably no official roads back then in the country.  I really like this map because of how antique it is. One of the things they show on this map that I’m particularly fascinated with are the grotesquely drawn/painted sea creatures that are located around the North Atlantic Ocean surrounding Iceland.  I also like how it is handmade/printed.  The kinds of data that were necessary to create this map are the number of body of water in the country.  The makers recorded the number of towns in the country.  Perhaps the number of concentrated populations around the area which establishes a town or a city. Even though aerial view may not have been present at the time (16th century), people would actually measure the space and document what was in the surrounding to create an estimated aerial visual.   

http://www.csun.edu/coe/maps/campus.html

I'm sure you are familiar with this one! This is the map of the California State University Northridge campus.  I got it from the CSUN website.  The map shows various structures/buildings like the Sierra Hall, Live Oak hall, and Jacaranda Hall. The map also shows various parking lots situated all around the campus.  The Orange Grove, one of my favorite spots on the campus, is represented by cute little circular oranges on the map. I really like this map because it helped me a lot especially when I was new to CSUN.  I believe I still carry a copy of the map in my binder.  I chose this map because I simply love our campus. The kinds of data that were necessary to create this map are the number of buildings around the campus.  It is important to know the exact shapes of the building from the aerial view in order to precisely place them on the map along with the roads/streets, etc.

http://www.alcosglobal.com/images/map.jpg

This one is the map of Quezon City, Philippines. I got this from the official website of ALCOS GLOBAL CORPORATION. The map shows the streets and as well as their names. They also highlighted the main roads with yellow. I like this map because even though I have never resided in this area before, I have a special attachment to this city because I was born in Quezon City hospital. The kinds of data that were necessary to create this map are the number of the streets in and around the Quezon City. THey probably applied classic ways of generating the map which is basically. the placements infrastructures and water ways are necessary to develop the map because most of the developments and communities are centered around these infrastructures. Aerial view would be necessary to create the last two maps because it would seem unnatural trying to recreate the streets, buildings, infrastructures based on memory or guess. Aerial view is necessary if you want to be able to document on the legends, the distance to point A to point B.

(I'm really sorry, I can't seem to find the appropriate link of my map so I just print-scrolled.)

This is the map I created using Google maps. I labeled various things such as my apartment(green), stores(yellow) and restaurants(blue). As you can see, these stores and restaurants that I regularly go to are really close to where I live (showed by the polygon).  You can also see how they are all clustered around the busy main W 3rd street.  That is one advantage living at or near the main streets, I don't have to walk many blocks to reach any local stores and restaurants. Naturally, businesses such as supermarkets and restaurants are on the main streets because of how busy and populated the area is.  You will also see the line I created starting from my apartment going to west of 3rd st.  This way goes straight to The Grove or the Beverly Centre, where I often window shop.