Intentional Re/Mis Use
Due: 2/4
"Data are always collected for a specific purpose, by a combination of people, technology, money, commerce, and government." (Kurgan 2013, 35)
The main task
Find two digital spatial datasets about a place (that is not New York City) that are related to a topic that interests you and have some relevance to one another. Create a single map which uses these two datasets together to make an argument that was likely not intended by the original creator(s) of either dataset.
Write a pithy 2 sentence summary of your map's intended argument (think of this as something like gallery text that might accompany a work of art).
Requirements and considerations
- The place you select must be somewhere that you have lived and/or spent a significant enough amount of time to know something about lived experience there.
- Investigate the origins of your two datasets. Some starting points to cover (at a minimum): who made the data? what is/was the intended use(s) the data? when was the data made? how was it made?
- Craft an argument through the juxtaposition, overlay, or presentation of the two datasets together in a map. This argument should try to in some way alter, stretch, or subvert the originally intended use of one or both datasets.
- Research the appropriate projected coordinate reference system to use for your chosen place, reproject your data and map canvas accordingly (see tutorial 1)
- Consider the role that the title and other map elements can play in assisting you in making your argument clear.
- As you design your map choose one of the projects we have looked at thus far in class as a visual precedent (see slides posted on Canvas, examples on Mural boards, as well as the precedents page here), and imitate some aspect of its graphic style.
Format
- Your final map must be a designed map composition on a single slide with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
- Your designed map composition must thoughtfully include:
- title
- legend
- scale bar
- north arrow (your map doesn't need to have north be pointing vertically...)
- citations for all data sources
- projection used
- your name
Submission
Upload your map:
- as a PDF document to Canvas (the PDF should include your 2 sentence summary on a second page)
- add it to the 2/4 pinup Mural board (with your gallery text as an annotation below your map)
Starting points/guidance
For sources for spatial datasets see:
- Columbia Library Geodata Portal
- Local and State Government operated Open Data Portals
- University Mapping and/or Research Centers. For example:
A general rule of thumb for finding data: think about who would have the motivation (and the money/resources) to create the dataset you are looking for then try to research that entity.
I suggest working with vector datasets for this assignment (but not required). When looking for vector geospatial data you should be looking for one of these file types:
- shapefile
- geojson
- KML/KMZ
- a csv with latitude and longitude coordinates (review tutorial 1 for how to open something like this)
If you plan to use raster data you should be looking for something with a '.tif' format or that is called a 'geoTIFF' or 'geoJPG'
This guide to writing clear gallery text from the Victoria & Albert Museum is perhaps helpful in composing your map description.