I am intimidated of web mapping because I feel as though I am inexperienced with many technologies and software, however, web mapping comes across as a very important yet complex part of the digital world. I really enjoyed the presentation of Alan McConchie and Beth Schechter’s, “Anatomy Of a Web Map,” because it was very interactive. The way McConchie and Schecter broke down the aspects of web mapping through large and colorful font PowerPoint slides made it somewhat easier to understand. I also liked how they compared web maps to bodies and the cells of bodies to data in web mapping.
In terms of the presentation and my intimated feelings towards web mapping I learned that tiles were revolutionary in the history of web mapping and that there is a difference between the original MapQuest Maps and Google Maps. Web Maps are viewed in a browser or the Internet like Open Street Map or Google Maps (both browsers use tiles). MapQuest did not use tiles, which made it difficult to view the maps on the Internet. Tiles allow for maps to load faster than a big map. As zoom levels increase on maps the number of tiles increases exponentially.
One of the web mapping sites that stood out to me was OpenStreetMap because anyone can use it for mapping. It is comparable to Wikipedia as a search engine but for web mapping. There is a community of mappers that use OpenStreetMap to map roads, trails, highways, railways, etc. all over the world. When I searched my small two square mile town in New Jersey I found that it was mapped along with all the roads and city boundaries. I could even access how long ago it was mapped and who mapped it. I think this is very impressive website especially because it is web map community driven. Even though it may not be perfectly reliable, it allows for people to practice web mapping and build off of other mapper’s work.
