Cybercartography

= Cybercartography = toc

How cybercartographic applications may affect the LIS profession
Facilities which deal with cultural information that includes geography, such as genealogical, historic, political, art or music sections of libraries and related societies and archives, can create an interactive environment to enrich the research into the history of a family, a community or a movement.

Cybercartography
The term, cybercartography (cyber = computer, cartography = having to do with maps), was introduced in 1997. The underlying intent of cybercartography goes beyond mapping, to include added components to create an interactive whole environment for learning and disseminating information. According to Brauen, Pyne, Hayes, Fiset and Taylor (Encouraging...), maps are used "as organizational and analytical tools." In other words, historical documents, photographs and other images, personal narratives and, possibly, other components are brought together in a geographic region to better illustrate a lesson. Artwork and musical scores could be placed at their city of origin, along with information about the artist or composer, the times, and the period the work represents. Documents, such as treaties, deeds, marriage, birth and death records, are brought together with photographs or artistic renderings of the participants and those affected, set in the local area.

Nunaliit
Researchers at Carleton University, Canada, have developed an interactive framework for mapping narratives. Dr. Fraser Taylor, of Carleton, headed the project which produced the Nunaliit Cybercartographic Atlas Framework, a downloadable, open source application. The name, Nunaliit, means, "settlement," "community" or, "habitat" in Inuktitut, a dialect of Inuit. Dr. Taylor and other colleagues have presented about Nunaliit and Cybercartography, using the examples they have placed on-line. Nunaliit is open-source software which can be downloaded from the official Nunaliit site. A server is required in order to implement this application. Nunaliit received grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, $2.5million in 2002 for a 4-year study, and a Standard Grant: $143,431 over three years (09/10, 10/11, 11/12), in order to research this software. The Nunaliit project does not seem to be very active on-line at this time but there is enough available to see the possibilities of such software.

Ramifications
As the internet grows more interactive, and as more people naturally go to on-line sources for information, programs such as Nunaliit will be beneficial to understanding past events, current trends, information, and other applications in a multi-media environment. The addition of context to items allows for a greater user experience and depth of perception.

Nunaliit:
[|Pilot Cybercartographic Atlas of the Risk of Homelessness] [|Living Cybercartographic Atlas of Indigenous Perspectives and Knowledge] This, an atlas of the [|Great Lakes region bordered by both Canada and the United States], shows photographs by ethnographer Frederick Waugh, taken between 1912 and 1916, audio detailing how to consider a photograph of those times and that place, clickable portions of the map which bring up separate files in a side window, and zoomable, panable historic maps of the region.

Other applications:
University of Colorado at Boulder created an interactive map, using Google technology, to show [|the spread of avian flu]. Land Trust GIS offers [|advice for creating interactive maps] GMA News offered an interactive map to show [|the progress of the Filipino solar car, Sikat II]'s, travel in Australia for the 2011 World Solar Challenge. The History Channel provides an interactive [|map of Sherman's march], with music, information, and photographs. Maps of India provides [|maps of India with an interactive timeline]

**References**
[|CentroGeo: Cybercartographic Atlases] [|Cybercartography - Geomantics and Cartographic Research Centre - GCRC Wiki] [|Nunaliit Cybercartographic Atlas Framework] [|Historic Reminiscents blog: Indigenous Knowledge and Mapping] PDF: Brauen, G., Pyne, S., Hayes, A., Fiset, J. P., Taylor, D. R. F. (2011). [| Encouraging Interdisciplinary Participation in Atlas Projects Using an Open Source Cybercartographic Toolkit]: The Atlas of the Lake Huron Treaty Relationship Process. Canadian National Commission of the International Cartographic Association National Report on Cartography. Geomantica, 65:1, 27-45.