temporal (time)

spatial (location)

thematic (description/attribute)

metric (measure) vs.  non-metric (no measure)

	non-metric examples: landmark (Eifel Tower) street address (900 Fifth Street, Nanaimo, BC, Canada) general description (south slope of Benson) census tract, postal code, counties, section/ quarter section, etc.
	metric relative (check out the hottie 3 m to your right) absolute geographic (lat./ long.) rectangular/ Cartesian (UTM eastings & northings)

datums (for x,y and z)

4 properties can be distorted

projection types: equal area vs. conformal (also equidistant & azmuthal)

developable surfaces (shapes) - cylinder, cone, plane

tangent vs. secant

standard line(s)

scale varies on a map!

purpose

	ultimately the mapmaker is turning data into information to communicate meaning to a 3rd party
	decide on what information and understand the audience (consider the difference in detail and need for accuracy) map of a pond and field for an outing for school kids a road map for travelers a road map for outdoor enthusiasts a road map for emergency transportation planners
	your topog. map - to show a specified level of topographic detail, as set by instructor

scale

	obviously level of detail to be mapped is a prime factor
	your topog. map - set by level of desired detail and size of map sheet provided

real world features

	the real world phenomena (real world spatial entities, real world features, real world things) that are to be mapped
	purpose of the map determines what phenomena are to be captured
	your topog. map - elevation plus planimetric detail (creeks, ponds, roads & trails) plus thematic detail (timber types)

map representation

	how are you going to represent the various real world phenomena on a piece of paper
	(vector) mapped features (mapped entity types) points (0-dimension at map scale) lines (1-dimension at map scale) areas/ polygons (2-dimension at map scale)
	your topog. map - points for spot heights; lines for creeks, roads, trails; areas for ponds and timber types

generalization

	the world to too complicated to be fully captured on a map - therefore we simplify - we generalize to maintain clarity!
	reasons include: purpose of map (map for school kids will be intentionally simple) scale of map (on a small scale map features are smaller and therefore simplified) technology (resolution of satellite imagery, minimum thickness of lines we can see) "clarity" (we often simplify to maintain enhance meaning - often resulting in increased spatial error!!)
	selected types of generalization selection - what features are selected depends on purpose of the map (e.g. your topog. map - ignored soil types but focused on elevations) simplification - scale is the primary factor (e.g. your topog. map - consider the difference in contour detail of a 1: 20,000 map vs. your map) displacement - features in the real world are so close that you are not able to depict both on your scale of map (e.g. a road that follows a river) smoothing - if source data provides an un-naturally angular feature, smoothing improves the look (e.g. your topog. map - you did not connect the dots for you contour lines; you smoothed them)

map projection

	depends on purpose of map and which of the 4 parameters (distance, direction, area, & shape) you want to preserve
	your topog. map - you actually ignored this and simply drew a large scale plan

spatial referencing

	for a general reference map it would be logical to use a standard datum (NAD83)
	your topog. map - your spatial referencing was relative to your baselines and was not converted to 'real world coordinates'

annotation

	text to aid in communication (includes map title, date, legend, labels, etc.)
	your topog. map - as set by Instructor

this is the descriptive data and can be textual or numerical

scales of measurement (numerical)

	nominal (name or category, provide identity, cannot do math (e.g. math on phone numbers would be pointless)
	ordinal (order or ranking but intervals are not determinate/ consistent, e.g. military rank, Likert scale (rank from 1 - 5 your satisfaction), movie/restaurant ratings)
	interval (difference between numbers is on a scale (so an increase of 1 interval is consistent throughout the scale), but there is no absolute zero; e.g. temperature, IQ, dates - therefore a number comparing 2 to 4 does NOT mean that the 4 is twice as big)
	ratio (difference between numbers is on a scale AND there is a 'real zero'; e.g. income (yes, you can make no money and 4 dollars is actually twice as much as 2 dollars), height, weight, age, etc.)

census / survey (can be collated to census or postal code tracts)

air photos

satellite images

field data: GPS & traverse notes

paper maps