Spatial Lens

“A map is like a photograph of the landscape in a moment of time”

Peter Slingsby (Pocock, S. 2019) Meet Mr Slingsby. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU0Sm2tLW8g

Maps are the loveliest way for us to see complicated geodata.

“Geomatics is the study of methods and technologies used to collect, distribute, analyse and present geographical, and spatial data, both natural and human-made”.

https://www.westerncape.gov.za/infrastructure/become-geomatics-professional

There are geomaticians with pen and paper (look out for Peter Slingsby ‘s routes and paths in the Drakensberg and Cederberg); tech giants with a street car, creating 360-degree views, Google’s local leveled guides awarding stars or Open Street Maps volunteers, contributing nodes, ways and relations for a Wikivoyage and their dynamic tourist maps. Cartographers. You make the earth beautiful. Me…I’m teaching myself about geodata. So these three posts comes with a Warning: This is a “brain dump”, its subject to regular revision and it might be long.

My outline for this post.

There are many ways to map a territory. Through commercially published services, by talking to people who know the terrain or by building your own map from the available data.

• Reading my maps (and the territory)
• Three examples of general purpose maps
• Recipes for making general purpose maps
• Four Examples of thematic maps (family, buildings, location)
• Challenge: Making a tour guide map
• Up next

Reading my maps (and the territory)

My maps (shared below) are not definitive. They are a starting point for dialogue. Much like a person may stop their car, and ask me for directions, and I may give them useful instructions or a pin with latitude and logitude pair

So Sho’t Left applies and when we are in mapping territory and you can cross a cartographic threshold. Why? Its important that you make sense of the landscape.

1) Map Examples: Three library maps

In these examples, I’ll take an earth centred perspective. My Library Dashboard contains three examples of maps that draw on English Wikipedia, Open Street Maps (OSM) and Wikimedia Commons. You will notice each map has a single library location where I have zoomed in (from continent to country to province). Here the latitude and longitude create a single node. Each map follows a slightly different labelling convention and points to a different data point on the contitnent.

On the left, the Johannesburg City Library (Africa) map relies on a commons image File:Africa_location_map.svg and an underlying layer appears when the module “Africa” is called.

{{Location map | Africa
| width   = 200
| label   = Johannesburg City Library
| lat_deg = -26.20 
| lon_deg = 28.03}}
}}

• Notice the following on the Johannesburg City Library Map
  1. The map’s width is set at 200
  2. The label is Johannesburg City Library
  3. The latitude (lat_deg) and longitude (lon_deg) show roughly where the library is located on the Africa map.

The centred Randburg Library Map (South Africa) relies on the commons image File:South_Africa_adm_location_map.svg and the underlying layer appears when the module “South_Africa” is called.

{{Location map | South Africa
 | width      = 200
 | lat_deg    = -26.0962
 | lon_deg    = 28.0053
 | label      = [[Randburg_Library|Randburg Library]]
 | position   = right
 | marksize   = 50
 | mark       = MUTCD I4-1.svg
 }

• Notice there are some differences between the Randburg Library Map and the Johannesburg City Library Map
  1. The link is clickable.
  2. The link appears on the right side of the icon
  3. The co-ordinates are longer
  4. The green reading sign (marksize) is too big
  5. MUTCD I4-1.svg is the name of the green reading sign. (Choose a better sign that represents the library or reading )

Lastly, the Weltevreden Public Library Map (right hand side) relies on the image File:South_Africa_Gauteng_location_map.svg and an underlying layer appears when this module “South Africa Gauteng”. Go to the Weltevredenpark Public Library Wikipedia Page, and click on the existing map

• What are the differences I could make to the Weltevredenpark Public Library Map.
  • A label that is clickable or not
  • A large or small mark size
  • A customisable mark
  • Improve the accuracy of the c-ordinates.

Recipe: Try add the spatial data to Weltevredenpark Public Library.

{{Location map | ??
lat_deg |??
lon_deg |??
label   |??
}}

Helpful Hints (or a cheat)

Finding latitude and longitude of any place on the earth is also possible with online maps

• Open Google maps and search for a location. eg. Johannesburg City Library
• Drop a pin on the location and note the feedback in the popup
• You’ll see two numbers that that looks like this
  • | lat_deg = -26.204789
  • | lon_deg = 28.038587
• that’s the latitude (with a minus) and the longitude.
• The same thing can be done on Openstreetmaps.
• The latitude and long also appear in the url bar
• Sometimes you can also right click on a location

2) Map Examples: Thematic maps

Below is a screenshot of four multi label thematic maps that I made. As opposed to the maps that only focus on location, these thematic maps are more about humans. You will see that these maps also have multiple locations.

1. City Centre Lobamba – a map about places I would have liked to visit when I did a training session in Eswatini
2. M. J Naidoo map is about the school, the park, the sports ground, and other places where this local leader was found. The map has a numbered label and has a key below. Both the label and the key links to another Wikipedia articles (also with maps).
3. Clarens Festival map: a map about popular culture locations for those who visit Clarens. Some are linked to Wikipedia or Wikimedia pages.
4. Parktown Mansions map is about the lavish homes that were built by Randlords and the blue plaques that accompany these buildings.

My inspiration: Stuart (my favourite counter-culture urban archaeologist) and Niall’s lovely work on the Grey Street Literary Trail inspired my efforts.

Mouseover on Map: You might notice that these maps are interactive. When your mouse or pointer hovers over label, an image, location or Wikipedia article appears. This allows the reader a quick preview before they click. Now your label and the location do not have to be the same. Let’s explore two labels.

Below is a small part of the code that created this map. Can you guess which of the four pins this code refers to?

{{Mapframe
|lat1 = -33.931 
|lon1 = 18.424
|name1 = [[Cape_Peninsula_University_of_Technology|CPUT (26-27 Mar 2024)]]
|symbol1 = College
}}

Correct. The university of my friend and Professor – Johannes Cronje.

You can see the difference between

• 33°55’54.6″S 18°25’29.6″E (degrees minutes seconds)
• -33.931838, 18.424892 (decimal)

This tool can help you convert https://geohack.toolforge.org/

Can you see the TUT Campus, where I helped run a SWiP workshop. Go to the Wikipedia page and click on the Geo link on the top right and you will find some geo-cordinates

Now if you add these degree minutes seconds co-ordinates, to a map, they might not work and you will get an error message However these degree minutes seconds

|lat2 = 25° 43′ 55.92″ S, 
|lon2 = 28° 9′ 42.84″ E

can be converted into decimals to create your second location on the map.

|lat2 =- -25.7322
|lon2 =28.1619

You have started to build a multi label map. Do you think that you can add your own university? Or do you want to cheat and look at the code view.

Thematic Maps using Wikipedia Templates

Scope: In the two examples below, I will show how to plot UNISA’s campuses on a web map focused on South Africa. Or public libraries on a web map of Johannesburg.

These two templates have GREATLY simplified this process. They are called location map~ and location map+

{{Location map~ | South Africa
 | lat_deg    = -29.849383
 | lon_deg    = 31.00821
 | label      = [[University_of_South_Africa||UNISA]]
 | mark       = Blue pog.svg
 | position   = left
 | marksize   = 6
}}

Code Recipe:

{{Location map+ | South Africa
| caption = Locations of the public universities in South Africa
| alt = Locations of public universities in South Africa  
| width   = {{{width|650}}}
| float = {{{float|right}}}
| places  =
{{Location map~ | South Africa
 | lat_deg    = -25.767
 | lon_deg    = 28.199
 | label      = <div style="position:relative;top:0.5em;">[[University_of_South_Africa|{{nowrap|UNISA}}]]</div>
 | mark       = Blue pog.svg
 | position   = left
 | marksize   = 6
}}
}}

Notice that both location map~ and location map+ “South Africa”. Now “South Africa” is a hidden layer with location data for South Africa in a module. Four co-ordinates will centre the South African Map

Guide for code: I want to display all the South African Universities that participated in SWiP. The project might expand, so I’ll need to add an unlimited number of marks and labels onto a map.

Step 1: Go to Your Wikipedia Sandbox Page

Step 2: Confirm the name of the area for the map – Its called South Africa

Step 3: Launch the template > Template:Location_map~

The UNISA co-ordinates will give me the location of UNISA on a South African Map as a background. Then I’ll add the first label onto the map, and where it should be in relation to the Now we can combine this individual map and it’s location into a number of points

Location + and Location ~

Look carefully in the code above. Can you see the word “Location”?

Location + | South Africa (this calls the module location map + and the category)

• | caption = Locations of the public universities in South Africa (this appears at the bottom of the map).
• | alt = Locations of public universities in South Africa (offers an alternate caption)

If you have got so far well done! Here is the article and map. Look at the example code on https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Derek_J_Moore/Universities

Creating a tourist map

Crowdsourced geographic information on open street maps can be used to map geographic entities. I do this on phones on laptops, with open source software and Google tours. Maybe try a

• A Blue Plaque Trail (work with the local Heritage Association)
• An Uprising Tour (your history teacher might have an idea)
• Ruined Stationbuilding Tour (post steam blight)
• Authors, Screen Writers and their Scenes Tour (create pre-release media for a star)

Up next

Next thing to learn? https://osm.wikidata.link/ (more ) and adding co-ordinates onto Wikidata

References

https://librarycarpentry.github.io/lc-wikidata/05-intro_to_querying.html

Neumann, A. (2008). Web Mapping and Web Cartography. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Boston, MA.

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*Confession, I translated that Wikipedia article about geomaticians. Based on the French Wikipedia article.

This spatial theme that I have been blogging about has been revised repeatedly and I have split it into three parts.

1. Spatial (earth ) lens
2. Spatial (human) lens
3. Spatial (data) lens

Cara is pointing at two maps. The conventional map is located the entrance of The Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking Afrika. The upside down map, with a negative shape is located at CLTD. Both use the ”mercator projection.”