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Lesson Navigation IconThematic Cartography

Unit Navigation IconIntroduction to thematic cartography

Unit Navigation IconDesign of thematic maps

Unit Navigation IconPreliminary decisions and questions for the creation of a thematic map

LO Navigation IconChoice of the topic

LO Navigation IconAnalysis and concept

LO Navigation IconScale, format and location

LO Navigation IconChoice of the map projection

LO Navigation IconFrame maps or island maps?

LO Navigation IconSingle-colour or multi-colour maps

LO Navigation IconLabeling

LO Navigation IconDesign and structure of a map

LO Navigation IconSummary

LO Navigation IconRecommended Reading

Unit Navigation IconTransformation of statistical data into thematic maps

Unit Navigation IconMapping techniques for thematic maps

Unit Navigation IconSelf Assessment

Unit Navigation IconRecommended Reading

Unit Navigation IconGlossary

Unit Navigation IconBibliography

Unit Navigation IconMetadata


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Analysis and concept

Afterwards, within the analysis and concept phase, the foundations for the next steps, the design of the map and the map content are determined. The analysis of the topic and the elaboration of the theme structure form the mental basis, which is followed by thoughts such as:

  1. Familiarization of the topic, researching and determining which sources to use (e.g. reports, literature, atlases, magazines, but also newspaper articles and possibly domain experts to address specific questions).
  2. Which questions should be answered by the map later-on? Which geometric reference does the attribute data have? Do they reference points, lines or areas? Are the data of nominal, ordinal or numerical scale? On which level should these information be made available to the user, depending on the user group?
  3. According to Imhof (1972) ordering, classifying and summarizing provides the structure of the content, which has to be set to the beginning of each mapping project, because it is part of the mental preparation. The graphical construction is undertaken at a later point in time.
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