Download Fall 2011

GEOG 4043/5043, Fall 2011
FIRST TAKE-HOME EXAM (5 questions, 50 points; 10% of
final grade)
This exam is due by 5 pm on 30 September 2011. Please print your answers and leave in
Li's mailbox in Guggenheim (1st floor). The exam is open-book, meaning you can use
paper materials and the web to answer the questions. You may also discuss the questions
with other members of our class. However, the answers you submit must be expressed in
your own words and represent your own work & writing. If you use a direct quote or
paraphrase from a source, be sure to list the source in the answer.
1. (10 points) Answer any one of the following five questions:
From: Cartwright, William, Michael Peterson, and Georg Gartner. 2006. New Media:
From Discrete, to Distributed, to Mobile, to Ubiquitous. In Geographic Hypermedia:
Concepts and Systems, eds. Emmanuel Stefanakis, Michael P. Peterson, Costas
Armenakis, and Vasilis Delis, pp. 23-36. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
a) I don't understand the distinction the authors make between "discrete" and
"distributed" maps--I see a lot of discrete map sites in the web. Could you explain the
difference to me in your own words?
b) In what ways does mobile mapping pose additional challenges to cartographers in
comparison to distributed mapping via the web?
c) Is ubiquitous computing the same as Web 2.0?
From: Holmberg, Molly O. and Kenneth E. Foote. 2008. Journalistic Cartography on the
Web: A Comparison of Print and Online Maps in Seven Major American Newspapers.
In International Perspectives on Maps and the Internet, eds. Michael P. Peterson, 323340 Berlin: Springer.
d) How does the difference between online and print environments affect the placement
of maps in and near stories? Is this a strength or weakness of online maps?
From: Olson, Judy M. 1997. Multimedia in Geography: Good, Bad, Ugly, or Cool?
Annals of the Association of American Geographers 87: 571-578.
e) Olson quotes Steven Levy (p. 576) that "multimedia's lasting legacy will be the
debasement of ...communication...Sooner or later you realize that you communicate
more effectively in this medium if you ditch complex thoughts altogether." How
would you argue the opposite--that multimedia is more akin to how we think and
reason than is the linear flow of conventional text, film and television?
Page - 1
2. (10 points) In Table 2.1 of his E-reserve article "POMP and Circumstance: Plain Old
Map Products in a Cybercartographic World" Mark Monmonier lists "Conventional
Design Strategies Worth Implementing in Cybercartography." Pick one of these strategies
and find an online map that uses the strategy effectively in its design. Give the URL and
discuss the reason(s) for your choice. For this question, you need to find a native, online
map, not a map that has been scanned from a paper map product, book, or atlas.
3. (10 points total) Go to:
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/foote/geog4043/assign/test/problems.html
You will find a webpage with four mistakes. Download the files in the this folder, fix the
problems and then publish the corrected pages in your own publishing area on
spot.colorado.edu
Paste the URL of your corrected page here:
4. (10 points) Pick one of the web sites listed below. In your judgment, is the map
effective or ineffective in the web? Explain your judgment by discussing at least two
aspects of the map in terms of any aspect of web design that we have discussed in class-the use of visual hierarchy, text and color selection, use of graphics, file size & download
speed, and navigation. You may also refer to the design principles discussed in the
articles by Monmonier and by Jenny, Jenny & Räber. Be specific in your comments. If
you wish, you can include screen captures or graphics to explain your suggestions.
a) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/aug/22/libya-middle-east-tripoliinteractive
b) http://www.slate.com/id/2216238/?ad=ins
c) http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/09/08/us/sept-11-reckoning/where-wereyou-september-11-map.html?smid=tw-nytimes
Page - 2
5. (10 points) Common web file types. Fill in the remaining three boxes in this table.
Also, there are two incorrect statements in this table. Please find and correct the
mistakes.
.doc or .docx; .xls or .xlsx;
ppt or pptx
.pdf (portable document
format)
.html
.jpg or .jpeg
.jpeg 2000 (.jp2 or .jpx)
.svg
.gif
Strengths
Easy to share, editable files
of any length.
Drawbacks
Can only be read and
edited by users with
Microsoft Office (or
OpenOffice)
Easy to share documents and Users need to use Adobe
page layouts. Can be signed Acrobat Reader plugin
and secured and can include (free) or Adobe Acrobat
forms.
Professional to read the
files. Files can be edited in
Acrobat Professional to
some degree, but not as
easily as files in Word,
Excel or PPT.
Are entirely composed of
Complex formatting is
simple ASCII text and
somewhat more difficult to
markup tages. Can be read
accomplish than simply
by any computer with a
creating a .docx file.
browser. New standards for
html code including xhtml
(extensible html) allow
greater power and flexibility
by allowing users to create
macros and scripts within
pages.
This is a "lossy" form of
compression--some of the
color information is
discarded as the file is
compressed.
Developed as improvement
Not yet widely used. The
on jpeg format (using
improvements will be of
different compression
greatest use in relatively
algorithm) and supports both few situations.
lossless and lossy
compression, improved
compression in some
situations, etc.
One of the best formats for
Not fully supported in all
displaying raster photos,
browsers.
maps, and graphics.
A fax format that provides
Is limited to a color palette
Page - 3
very good compression for
charts, diagrams and raster
graphics with sharp contrasts
between colors. Can support
animation.
.png
.mpeg
.swf
Developed as an openstandard alternative to GIF
for raster graphics.
Improved color rendering.
In many situations, png will
compare favorably with jpeg
in continuous-tone color
quality, but with a smaller
file size.
Shockwave Flash files are
one of the most popular
ways to add animation,
video, and interactivity to
web pages. Shockwave
applications can employ
vector and raster graphics,
animation of text, drawings,
and still image, and supports
audio and video. Flash is
used extensively for
advertising in the web.
of 16 colors or less, so not
a good format for
continuous-tone
photographs and artwork.
The compression algorithm
is proprietary--meaning
some rights issues may
arise in the future.
Doesn't support animation
(although the unofficial
.apng format does support
animation).
Shockwave is a proprietary
standard--excellent for
displaying final product,
but not in a file format that
can be edited or used by
viewers. Adobe seems to
be gradually relaxing some
of the proprietary
restrictions on this format.
Page - 4