3 replies to this topic

[Jacques Gélinas]

I was wondering if anyone has come across any studies regarding the perception-appreciation of maps of existing societies?. The reason I ask is from a very localized business (and non scientifically corroborated) point of view English speaking Canadians seem more enthused about maps then French speaking Canadians. Maybe something cultural? Any other observations from other parts of the world?

[Dennis McClendon]

No study to cite, but I first discovered this working in New Mexico. The Hispanic community there—even local governments—just didn't seem to have the same tradition of map usage and reference that I was used to in other parts of the country.

[Michael Schmeling]

I have "The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands" by Barry J. Beitzel. In the preface he writes that "our product design studies indicated that three out of four users of a Bible atlas are males". This is strange. Normally women are more frequent church-goers than men, why are they less interested in maps?

[Matthew Hampton]

We recently sent to press a set of walking/biking maps targeting hispanic (youth) in an area of the region that is over 50% hispanic and one thing we learned is that the Hispanic culture (generally and relatively) don't use maps as much as the English culture. This led to some interesting cartographic insights.

How do you make maps for folks who don't use them?

I think there are strong socio-cultural associations with map use and literacy. I've heard swiss children are breast-fed isopleth appreciation!