Groundspeak Portal

Here's our charter:

To promote, explore and delight in the use of maps of all kinds. It is our hope that this group will be able to create categories that support this endeavor. Our first effort will be a category for places that produce maps and charts. Think DeLorme, National Geographic , the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, ADCMaps etc.

zekester & simon:

Here's our charter:

To promote, explore and delight in the use of maps of all kinds. It is our hope that this group will be able to create categories that support this endeavor. Our first effort will be a category for places that produce maps and charts. Think DeLorme, National Geographic , the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, ADCMaps etc.

How many odf such locations exist world wide?

Its not somthing I'm famialiar with, but my guess would be under 100, which probibly wouldn't pass prevelence with a group vote.

Over the past few years, I have been on a campaign on these boards promoting the fact there are two aspects of waymarking - posting and visiting.

Could you please expand on what you get to do when you visit one of these locations?

If I am taking a photo of a building just because something interesting is happening on the inside and I cannot interact with it or learn something about it, I am not interested.

Now, if I just take a photo and not interact, that I my choice, but I want that choice.

cldisme:

Over the past few years, I have been on a campaign on these boards promoting the fact there are two aspects of waymarking - posting and visiting.

Could you please expand on what you get to do when you visit one of these locations?

If I am taking a photo of a building just because something interesting is happening on the inside and I cannot interact with it or learn something about it, I am not interested.

Now, if I just take a photo and not interact, that I my choice, but I want that choice.

I have to agree with cldisme on this.  I have one of these locations as a waymark  already.  The building it self was listed on the National Register (not for its current use)   thus it has a reason to visit however from a cartography point of view the building has really nothing to visit. (the building was an early cold storage warehouse and continues to look like a warehouse building).  Now many of you may actually visit the building virtually often as it location that MyTopo maps come from (the topo map source for geocaching and hopefully waymarking soon)   Thus the activity which takes place in the building may be interesting but the building itself is not.

There is another actually in my area which again would be very interesting if you could get inside but the armed guards and barriers don't look too inviting, I guess they are there because it is part of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

With respect to your idea for a category whose focus is to waymark locations of map and chart making businesses - I agree with what others have said regarding the difficulty you are likely to face in peer review with respect to the prevalence issue. Combined with the fact that this could be construed as just another commercial category, I'm not seeing this one making it through very easily.

I also think cldisme's comments regarding visits are a very important consideration.

As someone who has a great deal of interest in maps, when I originally saw this topic title, I was hoping to see a proposal for a category that would be focused on identifying either historic locations in cartography history (although I don't know what those might be), or monuments, historic markers, or places of interest related to the lives and accomplishments of famous cartographers. A focus like that would be of much greater interest to me, and probably others.

The other thought I had (although I am woefully short on suggestions for exactly how you'd do this, and not even sure it would be possible) would be a category that was somehow based on the idea of waymarking very specific locations or features that appeared on specifically identified historic or antique maps. Not large locations, like a city or a river or a mountain range, but smaller features like a major intersection, or the location of a cathedral, or an inlet.

zekester & simon:

Here's our charter: To promote, explore and delight in the use of maps of all kinds. It is our hope that this group will be able to create categories that support this endeavor. Our first effort will be a category for places that produce maps and charts.

A minor point of clarification. The way I'm reading your post, it sounds to me like you could be under the impression that a single group can be used to manage multiple categories. That is not the case - a single group can only manage a single category.

If I've misunderstood what you meant, please ignore.

zekester & simon:

Here's our charter: To promote, explore and delight in the use of maps of all kinds. It is our hope that this group will be able to create categories that support this endeavor. Our first effort will be a category for places that produce maps and charts. Think DeLorme, National Geographic , the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, ADCMaps etc.

There's a regional mapping company that has some retail outlets in my area: MAPSCO.

Would their stores also be waymarkable in this category? There are probably other mapping companies like this with stores like this. Might make all the difference in the Prevalence requirement.

Good points made by all in this thread thus far. Here's some response and further thoughts:

- Did not realize that it was one category per group, I have a number of ideas related to maps, perhaps more should be incorporated here.

- Relatively new to waymarking, and was not aware of the "something to do when you get there" concern. As a veteran cacher, I can recognize the issue. There are caches I prefer to do, and caches I don't care to do any more of. What I hope for in the listings is enough detail that I can determine whether or not it would appeal to me. From this point of view, I think the choice that BruceS mentions occurs when you decide whether or not to go to a particular waymark, and then again when you get there if it is a participatory type of waymark. There are dozens of categories that don't seem to have much to do when you get there now. I personally don't see the point in waymarking Walmarts or McDonalds, one can go to their corporate websites and find the locations. Perhaps if it was the first of its kind it might be of interest. But to some it is all about the numbers, so they are worth posting. There is a cache at most Walmarts; the hide is virtually the same at all of them; done one, done them all. But that is my point of view. If others have different priorities, who am I to say no?

- I'd also note that many of these places can be interactive. a trip to Delorme is well worth the visit, they have a really cool map room, and what may be the largest globe on the planet.

- Speaking of which I'm going to add globes. I think that alone might allay many concerns of prevalence. That being said, I don't think prevalence is an issue. I think there are lot more of these that you think, both commercial and governmental.

- Also going to add map repositories and not just limit it to places that produce maps. The map library at the Vatican comes to mind. Many states in the U.S have a department of Natural Resources or something similar that has a shop or room where maps can be seen or purchased.

- I like the famous cartographers idea, I'll have to pursue that a bit.

- Map stores is another interesting idea, thanks Occam!

- I will re-vamp the charter shortly and post here again when it is done; I very much appreciate all of the feedback, keep it coming.

Oh- and note, this post was really about recruiting...hopefully some of you who have expressed an interest will join the group and help refine the idea into something that will gain approval!

R/

Zekester

zekester & simon:

There are dozens of categories that don't seem to have much to do when you get there now. I personally don't see the point in waymarking Walmarts or McDonalds, one can go to their corporate websites and find the locations. 

I don't like the big corporate waymarks either, but there are some really big fans of these places - especially the McDonald's since the stores can vary quite a bit and that information is not necessarily on the corporate website.  But you can't argue you there isn't anything to do there, though.

The only category type that I give a pass for being "non-interactive" are the benchmarks.  I think the interactive part is the research involved trying to find one - especially when I am out of the country.  Otherwise, with boring, old historical markers you can learn something.  Boring, old art sculptures can be appreciated.  Boring, old payphones are, well, boring and old, but you can still use them.

zekester & simon:

But to some it is all about the numbers, so they are worth posting. 

It is all about the icons!   I've posted 612 of the 948 categories with 25 categories visited I have not posted to yet...  oh, you said "to some."  I guess you are right about that, but I want my merit badge!

Charter has been updated and re-worded, anxious to hear more feedback, and hoping some of you will join us.

Kinda scattershot.  Stores over here, famous houses over there, libraries on the other side of the hill...

I wish you could narrow it up, but you can't.  You want anything dealing with a map.

Now I am going to see if you are going to widen the category...  What about maps as art work?  WM3Z32

Lastly, anything with the Greenwich Line me pause since there are two or three categories for that already.

I spotted this on my genealogy newsgroup

Kansas City, (MO).. On February 9, 2010, the National Archives at Kansas
City will open Mapping Missouri: Maps from the Collection of the Missouri
State Archives which features examples of cartography from the collections
of the Missouri State Archives and the National Archives at Kansas City.
Drawing from diverse examples such as land survey maps made by Antoine
Soulard from 1796-1806 and computer generated census maps made in the year
2000, this exhibit explores the history of cartographic images of Missouri
and the role they play in our everyday world.



The exhibition includes historical maps from the 19th century that show how
surveying and cartography were key to European American settlement of
present-day Missouri. Other maps in the exhibit examine the ways in which
geography helps to form a sense of identity and provide valuable information
for historians attempting to recreate places and events from the past. Of
special note is an 1837 Missouri River survey map attributed to Robert E.
Lee, as well as Civil War-era district maps of Missouri and an 1835
hand-drawn map relating to Auguste Chouteau's land claim near St. Louis.



Mapping Missouri: Maps from the Collection of the Missouri State Archives is
organized by the Missouri State Archives.



Admission, hours, and additional information



Mapping Missouri is a free exhibit and will be open through May 29, 2010.
The National Archives at Kansas City is open Tuesday-Saturday 9:00 a.m. -
5:00 p.m. for exhibits viewing and Tuesday-Saturday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00
p.m. for research. Free parking is available for National Archives
visitors, with additional free parking available in the Union Station
Parking Garage on the west side of Union Station.



The National Archives at Kansas City is one of 13 facilities nationwide
where the public has access to Federal archival records. It is home to more
than 50,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the
1990s created or received by nearly 100 Federal agencies. Serving the
Central Plains Region, the archives holds records from the states of Iowa,
Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The
facility is located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. It is
open to the public Tuesday - Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for research,
with the exhibits open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call
816-268-8000 or visit:
www.archives.gov/central-plains.

This is a news item we received concerning one of our member's activities.
If you are a member and your organization has a news item, you can send it
to us at info@heritageleaguekc.org to be considered for forwarding. If you
are not currently a member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City and
would like to join please visit our web site at www.heritageleaguekc.org for
a printable application.

One way you might interact would be to see if there is a tour available? of if they have a museum or gallery of any sort? Any company producing maps would surely have a rich history, and maybe even a public archives or library?

Also new here, so as yet a little unfamiliar with the details of the Group/Category managment. aomething that came to mind as a (subcategory)? would be Publicy displayed maps, such as you would find at the entrance to a large park, or along a scenic highway. Even thinks like roadside "Mountain Identifiers" might be considered a sort of map?

I can see a lot of crossover with other categories like historical markers, but places with maps posted(Continental Divide) have even a bit more interest.


Haha, when I was younger, it seemed that every gas station had a local map posted in the side window. That seems hard to find anymore, and they want you to buy one if you are lost. Maybe that could even be a waymark?

there are 'you are here maps'. they are everywhere. [edit: if you search 'map' it and one state historic marker category come up. at least the last time i posted a YAHM.]

there are 'scenic lookouts' (or whatever the real name is) for you to post those scenic roadside lookouts we all love to stop at.

i dont know about mountain identifiers, but there are named mountain gaps, summit registers, and several others that relate to this subject matter.

is the station still there? it could be a antique gas station.

how did you get lost with your gps? ive never got lost, maybe off track a little....

How to get lost with your GPS?...Don't load maps into it.

OK, so there are lots of waymarks that could be listed in multiple categores. I've just recently started exploring the site, and it seems to me that creating a group first, and then discussing the refinement of a category Might be a good way to go. I'm sure that a well written category could exclude many of the mundane and repeated waymarks. Those kinds of details can certainly be discussed among the group formed, before the category is submitted.

Sounds like an interesting group to me, and that they could come up with some interesting ideas for a category.