Locator map

Last updated September 05, 2023

In cartography, a locator map, or just a locator, is typically a simple map used to show the location of a particular geographic region within its larger and presumably more familiar context. Depending on the needs of the cartographer, this type of map can be used on its own or as an inset or addition to a larger map.

Purpose

Arthur Robinson, an American cartographer influential in thematic cartography, stated that a map not properly designed "will be a cartographic failure."^[1] Any map that does not take its audience into account by assuming too much reader knowledge about the map area's context will not fulfill its purpose. Location maps help achieve this purpose by familiarizing the reader with the location of an area they may not have read about previously. A good understanding of the audience's mental map for a particular area is critical for a proper application of location maps. Used on their own, location maps do not differ significantly from traditional maps, differing primarily in the fact that solitary locator maps focus the attention on a single location within the map frame, where traditional maps generally seek to portray a multitude of features across the entire frame. More commonly, location maps appear as insets or ancillary maps (maps adjacent to or near the primary map) in order to help the audience place the geographic area being mapped properly inside their internal frame of reference.

Common uses

Education

As educators seek to teach students increasing levels of geography, maps generated for textbooks must reference the expected geographic knowledge of a particular education level. Location maps achieve this purpose by highlighting more in-depth geography within the context the student is familiar with. In the United States, this purpose is reinforced by the standards set by the National Council for Geographic Education, which says that "Mental maps, or cognitive maps, are among our most important geographic tools. Because they exist in our minds, they are the maps we use for thinking and decision-making."^[2]

Interactive applications

Some online applications that allow the user to zoom into an area often include locator maps to assist in navigating the main map or image. For example, Google Maps uses a locator map to orient visitors to its site, included as a toggle button. These locators often feature a movable box that assists the user with navigating the main map. Other applications using locator software allow people to generate their own location maps by entering some basic information about where they are. This generates a map showing places within a specified radius of that point that meet the user's criteria. Banks, hotels, retail chains, and restaurants are common users of this type of service.

Commerce

Businesses have a vested interest in letting consumers know where they are located, and frequently use locator maps to help them reach out to potential customers. These maps typically range from a crude schematic map showing nearby crossroads, to more realistic maps that include greater geographic detail and context.

Corporate web sites

Businesses such as restaurants and retail establishments often have locator maps online to help potential customers find their location. These are sometimes accompanied by driving and parking directions from one or more directions of travel, especially if many of their customers are not from the local area.

Direct marketing

The widespread distribution of sophisticated Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping techniques has allowed the development of large-scale customized locator maps that can be tailored to individual consumers in direct marketing campaigns. This sophistication allows a variety of customized locator maps to be produced in a relatively short period of time. Major types of direct marketing locator maps are:

Single Location: A single business location is shown with major street and road connections. While this type of map can be efficiently constructed using GIS with existing street databases and customized map templates, special software is not required because the map does not change for each direct mailing.
Customer to Business: Using a customer address list, specialized software can frame the map that shows a customer's location in relation to the business, and connects the two using a pre-existing street database.
Multiple Location: Like the single location locator map, a GIS package is not required, though it also can be useful in quickly plotting the locations onto an existing street database using map templates.
Defined Area Locators:^[3] Multiple locations within a defined area are shown.

Related Research Articles

Cartography is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.

A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database, however, this is not essential to meet the definition of a GIS. In a broader sense, one may consider such a system also to include human users and support staff, procedures and workflows, the body of knowledge of relevant concepts and methods, and institutional organizations.

A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.

Animated mapping is the application of animation, either a computer or video, to add a temporal component to a map displaying change in some dimension. Most commonly the change is shown over time, generally at a greatly changed scale. An example would be the animation produced after the 2004 tsunami showing how the waves spread across the Indian Ocean.

Address geocoding, or simply geocoding, is the process of taking a text-based description of a location, such as an address or the name of a place, and returning geographic coordinates, frequently latitude/longitude pair, to identify a location on the Earth's surface. Reverse geocoding, on the other hand, converts geographic coordinates to a description of a location, usually the name of a place or an addressable location. Geocoding relies on a computer representation of address points, the street / road network, together with postal and administrative boundaries.

A GIS software program is a computer program to support the use of a geographic information system, providing the ability to create, store, manage, query, analyze, and visualize geographic data, that is, data representing phenomena for which location is important. The GIS software industry encompasses a broad range of commercial and open-source products that provide some or all of these capabilities within various information technology architectures.

ArcGIS is a family of client, server and online geographic information system (GIS) software developed and maintained by Esri. ArcGIS was first released in 1999 and originally was released as ARC/INFO, a command line based GIS system for manipulating data. ARC/INFO was later merged into ArcGIS Desktop, which was eventually superseded by ArcGIS Pro in 2015. ArcGIS Pro works in 2D and 3D for cartography and visualization, and includes machine learning (ML).

In marketing, geomarketing is a discipline that uses geolocation in the process of planning and implementation of marketing activities. It can be used in any aspect of the marketing mix — the product, price, promotion, or place. Market segments can also correlate with location, and this can be useful in targeted marketing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thematic map</span> Type of map that visualizes data

A thematic map is a type of map that portrays the geographic pattern of a particular subject matter (theme) in a geographic area. This usually involves the use of map symbols to visualize selected properties of geographic features that are not naturally visible, such as temperature, language, or population. In this, they contrast with general reference maps, which focus on the location of a diverse set of physical features, such as rivers, roads, and buildings. Alternative names have been suggested for this class, such as special-subject or special-purpose maps, statistical maps, or distribution maps, but these have generally fallen out of common usage. Thematic mapping is closely allied with the field of Geovisualization.

Terrain cartography or relief mapping is the depiction of the shape of the surface of the Earth on a map, using one or more of several techniques that have been developed. Terrain or relief is an essential aspect of physical geography, and as such its portrayal presents a central problem in cartographic design, and more recently geographic information systems and geovisualization.

Web mapping or an online mapping is the process of using maps, usually created through geographic information systems (GIS) on the Internet, more specifically in the World Wide Web. A web map or an online map is both served and consumed, thus, web mapping is more than just web cartography, it is a service where consumers may choose what the map will show.

AM/FM/GIS stands for Automated Mapping (AM), Facilities Management (FM), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It is a subset of GIS associated with public utilities like gas, electric, water and telecommunications. The term AM/FM/GIS mostly refers to GIS software that allows utility users to digitize, manage and analyze their utility network data. This data is stored in an underlying GIS database which also maintains the associations between the graphical entities and the attributes.

Cartographic generalization, or map generalization, includes all changes in a map that are made when one derives a smaller-scale map from a larger-scale map or map data. It is a core part of cartographic design. Whether done manually by a cartographer or by a computer or set of algorithms, generalization seeks to abstract spatial information at a high level of detail to information that can be rendered on a map at a lower level of detail.

A dot distribution map is a type of thematic map that uses a point symbol to visualize the geographic distribution of a large number of related phenomena. Dot maps are a type of unit visualizations that rely on a visual scatter to show spatial patterns, especially variances in density. The dots may represent the actual locations of individual phenomena, or be randomly placed in aggregation districts to represent a number of individuals. Although these two procedures, and their underlying models, are very different, the general effect is the same.

Spatial contextual awareness consociates contextual information such as an individual's or sensor's location, activity, the time of day, and proximity to other people or objects and devices. It is also defined as the relationship between and synthesis of information garnered from the spatial environment, a cognitive agent, and a cartographic map. The spatial environment is the physical space in which the orientation or wayfinding task is to be conducted; the cognitive agent is the person or entity charged with completing a task; and the map is the representation of the environment which is used as a tool to complete the task.

Geographic information systems (GIS) play a constantly evolving role in geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) and United States national security. These technologies allow a user to efficiently manage, analyze, and produce geospatial data, to combine GEOINT with other forms of intelligence collection, and to perform highly developed analysis and visual production of geospatial data. Therefore, GIS produces up-to-date and more reliable GEOINT to reduce uncertainty for a decisionmaker. Since GIS programs are Web-enabled, a user can constantly work with a decision maker to solve their GEOINT and national security related problems from anywhere in the world. There are many types of GIS software used in GEOINT and national security, such as Google Earth, ERDAS IMAGINE, GeoNetwork opensource, and Esri ArcGIS.

A map symbol or cartographic symbol is a graphical device used to visually represent a real-world feature on a map, working in the same fashion as other forms of symbols. Map symbols may include point markers, lines, regions, continuous fields, or text; these can be designed visually in their shape, size, color, pattern, and other graphic variables to represent a variety of information about each phenomenon being represented.

Map layout, also called map composition or (cartographic) page layout, is the part of cartographic design that involves assembling various map elements on a page. This may include the map image itself, along with titles, legends, scale indicators, inset maps, and other elements. It follows principles similar to page layout in graphic design, such as balance, gestalt, and visual hierarchy. The term map composition is also used for the assembling of features and symbols within the map image itself, which can cause some confusion; these two processes share a few common design principles but are distinct procedures in practice. Similar principles of layout design apply to maps produced in a variety of media, from large format wall maps to illustrations in books to interactive web maps, although each medium has unique constraints and opportunities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartographic design</span> Process of designing maps

Cartographic design or map design is the process of crafting the appearance of a map, applying the principles of design and knowledge of how maps are used to create a map that has both aesthetic appeal and practical function. It shares this dual goal with almost all forms of design; it also shares with other design, especially graphic design, the three skill sets of artistic talent, scientific reasoning, and technology. As a discipline, it integrates design, geography, and geographic information science.

Typography, as an aspect of cartographic design, is the craft of designing and placing text on a map in support of the map symbols, together representing geographic features and their properties. It is also often called map labeling or lettering, but typography is more in line with the general usage of typography. Throughout the history of maps to the present, their labeling has been dependent on the general techniques and technologies of typography.

References

↑ Robinson, A.H. (1953). Elements of Cartography. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
↑ National Council for Geographic Education (1994). "National Geography Standards". Geography Education Standards Project. National Geographic Society Committee on Research and Exploration. Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
↑ Lockmore, Alexander Robert Ulysses (1778). Annual Register Vol. 21. London.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Robinson, A.H. (1953). Elements of Cartography. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

[2] National Council for Geographic Education (1994). "National Geography Standards". Geography Education Standards Project. National Geographic Society Committee on Research and Exploration. Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2008-06-24.

[3] Lockmore, Alexander Robert Ulysses (1778). Annual Register Vol. 21. London.

[1]

[2]

[3]