The Geographer's Craft, Fall 1999
This page contains the class schedule by week: August
25 | August 30 | September
6 | September 13 | September
20 | September 27 | October
4 | October 11 | October
18 | October 25 | November
1 | November 8 | November
15 | November 22 | November
29 |
Related pages: General
Information | Lecture
and Discussion Notes | Research
Problems and Warmup Exercises | Study
and Review Questions | Geographer's
Craft Homepage | UC
Geography Homepage |
August 25: Introduction
Topics and tasks: Introduction to course. Windows and Internet quiz. Complete
final enrollment. Overview of laboratory resources, access, and use.
August 30: Internet Study, Research and Publishing
Skills
Topics and tasks: Practice with Internet resources. Introduce electronic
mail and the telnet and ftp commands. Overview of file use, transfer, conversion,
compression, and decompression. Discuss problems involved in navigating
the Internet. Demonstrate how to access and use on-line class materials.
Establish IF accounts. Assign accounts and electronic mail addresses. Establish
lab teams.
Required Reading:
September 6: Internet Study, Research and Publishing
Skills
-
No Class on Monday: Labor Day Holiday
-
All sections of Digital Aerobics exercise finished by Wednesday.
Topics and tasks: Overview of the HTML and the basics of Web publishing.
Design first homepage for final Web project.
Required Reading:
Supplemental Reading:
September 13: Texas Campaign Strategy
Topics and tasks: Introduction to Texas electoral and demographic dynamics
and Clinton campaign strategy of 1992. Explore ways in which the Clinton
strategy can be applied to Texas. Develop strategy based upon recent electoral
returns and demographic data from Texas counties. Overview of advanced
ArcView data handling and analysis functions. Contrast the advantages and
disadvantages of cartographic versus database solutions. Also consider
GIS as an integrating research technology including basic GIS concepts
and definitions. Consider GIS in comparison to other application
software used in geography and the social and natural sciences.
Required Reading:
September 20: Research Concepts and Exploratory
Data Analysis
Topics and tasks: Consider the revolution in information technology and
the way it is changing research methodologies in the sciences and geography.
Introduce the idea of the electronic classroom including the Internet,
Worldwide Web, and library resources. Consider the issue of research methodology
and various models of analytic and scientific reasoning.
-
Results of Web Search exercise must be on-line by FRIDAY.
Required Reading: None.
September 27: Principles of Cartographic Communication
Topics and tasks: Introduction to thematic cartography applied to first
maps. Overview of cartography as a form of visual communication. Definition
of audience and theme. Overview of general principles, composition of map
elements, and visual hierarchy. Experiments with point symbols and color.
Problems of realizing goals with automated systems: "Never Trust Defaults."
Required Reading:
Supplemental Reading:
-
Monmonier, Mark, Mapping It Out, Chapters 3 and 4 (pp. 55-117).
October 4: Issues in Demographic Mapping
Topics and tasks: Overview of issues relating to demographic mapping: statistical
generalization, classification, and symbolization. Overview of problems
of data classification and of strengths and weaknesses of various methods.
Perform experiments with area patterns and further tests with layout and
color. Introduce new issues relating to verbal content and lettering. Review
of descriptive statistics.
Required Reading:
Supplemental Reading:
-
Coulson, Michael R.C. 1987. In the matter of class intervals for choropleth
maps: With particular reference to the work of George F. Jenks. Cartographica
24 (2): 16-39. (On reserve in EISLab.)
-
Jenks, George F. 1963. Generalization in statistical mapping. Annals
of the Association of American Geographers 53: 15-26. (On reserve in
EISLab.)
-
Evans, Ian S. 1977. The selection of class intervals. Transactions of
the Institute of British Geographers New Series 2: 98-124. (On reserve
in EISLab.)
-
Monmonier, Mark Mapping It Out, Chapters 6 (pp. 157-185).
October 11: The Resurgence of Cholera in Peru
-
Texas Campaign Strategy Report due on Friday.
Topics and tasks: Introduce geography's spatial and ecological contributions
to the study of disease. Consider the history of cholera in the 19th and
20th centuries. Examine the resurgence of cholera in Latin America. Raise
questions of where and why. Begin to devise plan for studying the resurgence
of cholera in Peru. Begin to gather sources. Begin digitizing warm-up exercise.
Required Reading:
October 18: Project Planning and Data Sources
for GIS
Topics and tasks: Develop plan for cholera study. Consider map and data
sources and decide how these will be used. Address difficulties of gathering
information from varied sources and of data quality. Develop scheme for
organizing and coding data. Begin digitizing map coverages.
Required Reading:
Supplemental Reading:
-
Antenucci, John C; Brown, Kay; Croswell, Peter L.; Kevany, Michael J.;
and Archer, Hugh N. 1991. "Data Types." Chap. 6 in Geographic Information
Systems: A Guide to the Technology. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
October 25: Coordinate Systems
Topics and tasks: Raise issue of establishing and measuring location. Address
issue of how and why coordinate systems differ. Survey major issues and
terms. Introduce principle land survey and coordinate systems employed
in Texas. Raise issues of accuracy and precision. Raise further issues
in cartographic design and composition.
Required Reading:
-
Dana, Peter H. (1997) Coordinate Systems Overview, NCGIA Core Curriculum
in GIScience, http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/giscc/units/u013/u013_f.html,
posted May 21, 1997.
-
Kirvan, Anthony P. (1997) Latitude/Longitude, NCGIA Core Curriculum in
GIScience, http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/giscc/units/u014/u014_f.html,
posted October 29, 1997.
Supplemental Reading:
-
A more detailed version of GISCC unit 13, also by Peter Dana, is available
as Coordinate
Systems Overview in the Geographer's Craft lecture and discussion notes
pages.
-
Muehrcke, P.C. 1986. "Locational Reference Systems." Chap. 7 in Map
Use: Reading-Analysis-Interpretation, 2d ed. Madison, WI: J.P. Publications.
November 1: Database Concepts and Design
Topics and tasks: Consider more general issues of project planning. Examine
how databases model real-world phenomena and processes. Organize attribute
information. Develop scheme for analyzing and symbolizing relationships.
Map coverages completed.
Required Reading:
Supplemental Reading:
-
Antenucci, John C; Brown, Kay; Croswell, Peter L.; Kevany, Michael J.;
and Archer, Hugh N. 1991. "Data Base Concepts." Chap. 5 in Geographic
Information Systems: A Guide to the Technology. New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold.
November 8: Introduction to Final Project
-
Cholera Project Due Friday
Topics and tasks: Overview of the Hydrodynamics of the Woodbine Aquifer,
Collin County, Texas
November 15: Overview of WebGIS
Topics and tasks:
Required Reading:
November 22: Principles of Hypertext Design
and Publishing
-
No Class on Friday: Thanksgiving Holiday
Topics and tasks: Consider principles for organizing Web-based reports
and publications.
Required Reading:
November 29: Principles of Hypertext Design
and Publishing
-
Last class day is Friday, 3 December
-
Final project due by Saturday, 4 December by 5:00 pm
Topics and tasks: Consider how principles of graphic design apply to Web-based
publishing.
Required Reading: None.
Supplemental Reading:
-
Flanders,Vincent. Web Pages That Suck, http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/
-
McCanna, Laurie. 1996. Creating Great Web Graphics. New York: MIS Press.
A companion Web site is located at: http://www.mccannas.com/
-
Siegel, David. 1996. Creating Killer Web Sites: The Art of Third-Generation
Site Design. Indianapolis, IN: Hayden Books. A companion Web site
is located at: http://www.killersites.com/
-
Tufte, Edward R. 1990. Envisioning Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics
Press.
Last revised 2000.3.27. KEF: k.foote@colorado.edu