NACIS 2017

Imagined Battlefields: A WWI Case Study of Maps in Combat | Les champs de bataille imaginés : étude de cas de cartes du front de la Première guerre mondiale
Presenter: Joel Radunzel, United States Military Academy
During WWI's Palestine Campaign, the British Army's Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) produced a series of operation maps to track and control the progress of their offensive into Palestine. These maps demonstrated innovation in both their form and function, but the extent of their influence upon the decision-making of British commanders remains unclear. This project examines these operation maps during a three-day period of the battle to determine their influence upon the engagement's outcome. This case study reveals how the content of several of the operation maps was a product of negotiation between officers of the EEF's headquarters staff. Thus the maps, rather than displaying the actual situation on the ground, sometimes instead reflected how these officers wished others to visualize the battlefield situation. Overall, this case study provides a fascinating account of how military officers intentionally used maps as tools to influence the actions of other officers.          

Creating a large scale 3D oblique map and maintaining geographic accuracy while using non-geospatial software | Créer une carte oblique en 3D à grande échelle et préserver l’exactitude géographique en utilisant un logiciel non géospatial
Presenter: James Eynard, US National Park Service
I'll be presenting a workflow for creating a large scale 3D oblique map of a historic site. Geographic accuracy was maintained while using the non-geospatially aware 3D software Vue Infinite through the use of scaled transparency masks. The landscape was constructed in Vue using 3D elements from both within Vue and outside sources. Many 3D elements were modeled and textured in Sketchup before being imported into Vue. Other map elements were created in Photoshop or derived from photographs or existing 3D models. The map was finished in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator where several touchups were made to bring together all of the elements in a cohesive way. This brief overview of the process will highlight the steps from start to finish.

Visual Language in Cartography | Le langage visuel en cartographie
Presenter: Geraldine Sarmiento, Mapzen
What is the visual language of cartography? This talk will break down and explore the essential visual elements in the creation of a map. What are its basic elements and how do they fit into a whole? We'll explore dots, lines, shapes in the visual representation of space, form and scale. The primary concern is the act and process of drawing, and exploring what it means when we create. What is a dot in space? What can lines describe? What is the vocabulary of scale? What is the connection of symbol and place? How do we develop a language that is whole?
 
Let's Go Carto-Crazy | Devenons carto-fous
Presenter: Dylan Moriarty
As we all aim to make the best maps possible, we fall into certain habits of best practice. That's generally a good thing—relief done from the bottom right is gonna look weird.

Yet there's a lot to be said for making things for the sake of creation, best practices be damned. We can discover new, potentially better approaches. Odd but surprisingly effective storytelling. Or we can just create something that makes someone smile.

This will be a talk about breaking conventions, making new things, and why while those new things may not make their way into your day job, how they'll certainly enrich it.

Tufts GIS Expo Explorer | Tufts GIS Expo Explorer
Presenter: Patrick Florance, Tufts University
Tufts GIS Expo Explorer is an open source pedagogical tool that provides access to over 1200 student GIS research projects at Tufts University. The Expo Explorer provides students, faculty, and administrators search, discovery, visualization, and analytics of past and current geospatial research at Tufts via geographic extent, topics, methods, academic departments and schools. http://sites.tufts.edu/gis/expoexplorer

Designing With Constraints: How to Maximize Your Creative Control With Needy Clients | Concevoir avec des contraintes : comment optimiser votre contrôle sur vos créations face à des clients au budget limité
Presenter: Soren Walljasper, University of Wisconsin–Madison
As cartographers, we are often working for historians and scientists who know nothing about design, and publishers who only care about what's cheapest. As a student cartographer working for professional clients I am often working around a number of design constraints to create the best map I can. This presentation discusses the techniques cartographers can use to effectively communicate with clients about design, and work with publisher constraints to have the best end result possible.  

Ghost on the Road: A Conceptual Approach to Mapping Montreal's Ghost Bikes Memorials | Un fantôme sur la route : une approche conceptuelle de la cartographie des Vélos fantômes de Montréal
Presenter: José Alavez, Concordia University; Anja Novkovic and
Mira Baba, Concordia University
In Montreal on August 22nd of 2016, Justine Charlene St-Amour, 24, was riding her bicycle when she was hit by a truck. The young woman died on the scene. After the incident, volunteers painted her bike white and installed it in the place of the accident as a memorial to St-Amour's life. Unfortunately, Justine's ghost bike is not the only one in Montreal. Six bicycles have been installed around the city since this symbolic practice started in 2013.

Our presentation will be based on the conceptual and methodological approaches of our project, which aim to map the stories of Montrea's ghost bikes. This project is based on the assumption that maps are far more than expressions of cartography—they are holders of memories. We believe that mapping these stories requires the mobilization of media that offer a greater opportunity to transmit emotional messages than can be done via traditional cartography.  

The Cartographic Pipeline of Information from Humanitarian Actors to Policy Makers | Le pipeline cartographique de l’information des acteurs humanitaires au décideurs politiques
Presenter: Rhys Young, US Department of State
The Humanitarian Information Unit (HIU) is an interagency unit within the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the U.S. Department of State. HIU's mission is to identify, collect, analyze, and disseminate all-source information critical to U.S. Government decision makers and partners in preparation for and response to complex emergencies and humanitarian issues worldwide. HIU's cartographers work closely with analysts and researchers to develop a visual narrative to effectively communicate often complex population and humanitarian issues to policymakers. Using a combination of geospatial science and design software, we help shape and display raw data into compelling maps and infographics depicting a range of humanitarian topics. We will explain HIU's research and analysis and how it allows policymakers to bridge the analytical gap between the international humanitarian community and U.S. decision makers...