Mapping the Census
The process of map-making includes a variety of challenging designing decisions. The color scheme, combined with dividing the percentage categories into the correct format, were the most problematic decisions throughout this lab. I decided upon creating six maps, as opposed to three, because it seemed necessary to show an alternative shading perspective throughout the United States. The three maps included census information on the black, Asian, and all other race population statewide distributions across the United States.
On all six maps, derived from the census “percent by rank” information, there were different thematic elements to be considered. In the three maps including the entire country, it was necessary to take away borders around the states because it blended the shading too well, and the different percent categories were not distinguishable. The country, shown on a larger scale, allows the viewer to truly see the percentage shift in state defined regions of the country. On the three maps with only the continental United States, I chose to include the borders of the states because it is a smaller scale map with more clearly defined details.
I also focused on having each of the six maps displaying distinct percent categories throughout the country. Too many percent categories would create a blended, unclear viewpoint of the populations, and too few categories would not be a clear representation of the race distributions. I decided upon five percent categories for all the maps because it applied the best color representation of the black, Asian, and all other races population concentrations. This was the most challenging aspect of creating the maps because I wanted all the maps to have an equivalent number of percent categories, but yet, it was a struggle with the varying populations.
When starting the quarter in Geography 7, I did not truly comprehend the amount of time and effort dedicated to creating maps. As soon as a couple weeks passed in the quarter, I already had a greater understanding and knowledge of what Geographical Information Systems achieved in the past, and the potential GIS holds for the future of map cartography. Although I enjoyed the overall process of learning about GIS, the computer lab assignments were challenging towards the end of the course. ArcGIS is an amazing programming system and has numerous advantages, but I now know the disadvantages and obstacles people encounter when beginning to use the program. The tutorials were helpful, but most of my knowledge gained with ArcGIS was through interacting with other classmates and the TA during labs. The process of creating maps is extensive and intriguing, but at times, can be extremely frustrating. I did not enter the course with extensive knowledge of computers, but the hands-on process of creating the maps via computer labs was an essential part of me entirely comprehending the lecture information.
