Deliverable 1:  Research Paper on Resources for a Newly Formed Cartographic Division

Please Note:  This paper is based upon a hypothetical office division.  The hardware and software capabilities are real products but do not reflect real hardware or software assets available to me personally.

Background:  Because of a need to create and deliver high quality products that demonstrate spatial data metrics and concepts, a new cartographic division has been formed.  This division has the capability to produce data products for projects being researched by in-house staff as well as fee-for-service projects that may come from outside sources.

Staffing:  The division is currently staffed by a single cartographer who is fully trained in the use and functions of the ESRI ArcView products.  This person will act as both project manager and as the project staff to assist customers define their needs, compile the necessary data and source material, to utilize the tools in the division, and to produce customer-defined products using either in-house print processes or via contracted outsourced facilities.

Resources:  The following resources exist in-house to support customer projects.

          Hardware

·        HP Laserjet 8100 Series Laser Jet Printer for moderate volume black and white image and report production,

·        Kyocera/Mita KM-6330 Printer / Copier / Scanner with collator for large volume black and white image and report production and for large format document imaging,

·        Phaser 6300 high quality color laser printer for small volume color printing jobs,

·        HP Scanjet 4400 Scanner for low volume hard copy document scanning, and a

·        Dell Precision 670 Computer with dual dual-core processors for efficient software utilization.

Software

·        ESRI ArcGIS Geographic Information System Software,

·        Adobe Acrobat for PDF file creation,

·        Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator for image manipulation, and

·        Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress page layout software for preparation of digital positive images needed for offset printing.

Typical Projects:  The following examples were drawn from our recent experiences that caused us to form this cartography section in the first place.

Documents Needed for Web Pages – We were recently requested to provide some high-quality maps to supplement our data analysis on our web site.  In this situation, the cartographer met with the research analyst to review the data under consideration and to understand the intended audience for the web page.  Then working with the data provided by the researcher, our cartographer created a set of maps presenting various options of symbology, color, and layout.  The researcher selected the map(s) that were most appropriate for publication and the cartographer produced the digital images in 72 dpi resolution Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) file formats with web-safe colors for viewing on the Internet via a computer monitor, as well as in Portable Document Format (PDF) files for downloading from the Internet and printing on a local printer.

Documents needed for a Client Brochure – To support our new technical and analytical capabilities, a new tri-fold client brochure was recently created.  Unlike just creating images for a web site or for printing, our cartographer met with the marketing department to determine the kind of images that were needed and the content of the information being provided in the brochure.  The necessary images were captured from previously developed source material and then output in a high resolution image format capable of being manipulated in either Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.  Using the Photoshop application, colors were enhanced paying special attention to creating images using colors that could be readily seen and understood by those with color-blindness.  The resulting graphic image was then fed into Adobe’s InDesign page layout software to build the resulting brochure in a size that was portable but which also allowed for the images to be legible.  Draft copies of the brochure were run on our in-house color laser printer for proofing and for immediate distribution, while the electronic files were emailed to our contracted printer for a production run using their off-set printer.  The proof copies of the brochure were reviewed by the office staff using Adobe Acrobat created Portable Document Format (PDF) files emailed back and forth.

GIS Analysis Result Presented to an Industry Conference – As is expected, the results of our work need to be presented at industry and trade association conferences.  These situations call for data to be presented electronically via a PowerPoint presentation and to be included with documents, both hard copy and electronically, of the proceedings.  In these cases, several versions of the same image need to be created.  First, a computer viewable image is created for inclusion in the PowerPoint presentation, usually in a GIF or JPEG format.  Next, a higher resolution GIF image is prepared for inclusion in a format specified by the conference organizers for their conference proceedings.  This can include document submission in a word processing format such as Word or WordPerfect with the images embedded within the text or via a page layout format such as a Portable Document File (PDF) format electronically printed from the native document.  Where black and white copies of documents are required, special attention is made to the symbology and the color selection so as to render the graphic image in the most easily understood format.  Also, all images produced for mass consumption are generated in hues that will work well for vision impaired readers.

Checklist for Your Project

The following is a quick checklist of concepts we will ask when you bring us your project.  The more explicit you can be in addressing these items, the better we will be able to serve you:

Data Compilation

·        What source material is available?

·        Where is the source material available?

·        Is source material available electronically or only in hard copy?

·        Is the source material analog or digital?

·        What degree of confidence do you have that the source data is accurate?

Map/Image Creation

·        What is your target audience?  Are your needs more technical or more geared to the general public?

·        How will your information be used?  What degree of detail is needed?

Product Delivery

·        How will your product be used?

o       Will it be printed or delivered electronically?

o       If delivery is to be electronic, what file format is needed?

·        Will your product need to be in color or in black and white?

o       Will the product be printed or viewed on a computer?

·        What page size(s) are needed?

·        Are there specific audience constraints?

o       Is there a screen size or resolution limitation?

o       Will your audience have special needs?

§         Low vision issues?

§         Color vision impairment issues?

Deliverable 2:  Draft Capstone Project - Topic Proposal

This project will create maps that will show the aggregate economic benefits created by Penn State University’s Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PENNTAP) in those districts over the past 5 years.  These maps will be used for collecting and aggregating economic benefit information by Pennsylvania House and Senate legislative districts, economically disadvantaged districts, US Congressional districts, or other geographically defined areas of the state.

Data:

Steps:

Results:

Uncertainty: