Interative Maps

I looked at a couple of sites that came up in a search for interactive maps, the first map was a children’s map. It was a simple map that showed the states in different colors and when the cursor was scrolled over a state, lake or ocean it would display its name. For states it would also display the capital city of that state. I found it useful for children so they could learn the states names and capitals by scrolling over them in an order they wanted, which means they do not have to stare at a static piece of paper. The website was www.yourchildlearns.com/us_map.htm.
The next interactive map used the google map engine to mark areas where botched police raids happened and innocents were hurt or killed. The site allowed the user to zoom in on certain areas to see more of them since some were grouped together. Once a tab was selected it would give information on what happened and the sources it came from. It is interesting to note from the articles that they pulled up where all from 2000 or 2001, so some of the information is out of date. That website was www.cato.org/raidmap/.
The next interactive map that I found interesting was from the CNN interactive website. These maps allowed a user to look at front lines during WWII and cold war lines that were drawn afterwards. It also had maps on other wars that gave information about important events and front line movement. The only problem is that the back function would sometimes take awhile to go back because some of the links would take you forward and would require multiple back button presses to get back to the main menu. That website was www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/maps/.

Maps and the American Identity

I got this map off of the visitor information website setup to show visitor the different areas of Nevada. As you can see from the map it divides Nevada up into five different areas, the most notable being the Las Vegas Territory and Reno-Tahoe territory. Notice that the map mentions the most important places by name, Las Vegas, Reno and Tahoe, and leaves the rest of Nevada with a general definition. The Las Vegas and Reno-Tahoe Territories even go along the county boundary while the rest are just generalized. To me this reflects the American identity of Nevada as basically having two important areas and that no one really thinks there is anything else to the state. If the tourist information website does not even try to show off the rest of the state by there names and only as 'Pioneer' or 'Cowboy', then we defiantly know where all of the tourists are in the state.
Also in this map you can see that the areas of both Las Vegas and Reno have many towns near them listed while only the most major of outlying cities are listed in the rest of the state. To me there is just one big blank area in the middle of the map while all of the major areas are crowded to the west and south away from the middle. This reinforces the perception of Nevada as having nothing out there, and therefore reinforces the American identity of Nevada as one big wasteland. I think it would have helped if the had at least put a back shading of mountains of some sort, maybe even overlay this map over a topographic map to give it a little depth. It would have helped show that there are mountains and valleys and not make it seem like a long stretch of flatland.
But at least this map also reinforces the idea of the Wild West and the fact that it is less populated. To me it seems like a double standard where you might not want to see your state being portrayed as ‘empty’, but at the same time it has the ability to awe someone who comes from an area where there is no room and each city just blends together. So I would have to say that Nevada’s American identity is both a curse and a blessing as it allows our state to be seen by some as a wasteland, maybe, but also as an expanse of land that is not filled from edge to edge with major cities. Although the map could have been made better, it displays all of the qualities, good and bad, of Nevada.

False Map

This map that I found on the Delamare Libraries website for historical maps for Virginia City displays a claim map that has been redone to include the Sutro Tunnel. As you an see in the map there is a picture at the bottom that displays the Sutro Tunnel entrance prominently and on the top the mines that make up the Comstock mining district. The original map that this one is based on had no picture at the bottom and at the top had a mine depth chart that showed the approximate depth of the mines at the time the map was made. The previous map to this one was, to me, useful and had a purpose. But the above maps purpose is an advertisement for the Sutro Tunnel.
The drawings at the top of this map replaced the mine depth chart that had been originally there, making it hard for a person to tell what the current depth of the mines where without doing some research. The reason that they replaced the mine depth hart is so that people that invested in the tunnel did not see that the mines were fast approaching the point where the tunnel would come in and eventually surpass the tunnels depth. Although the tunnel was useful in that the pumps did not have to pump the water to the surface; they only had to pump it to the beginning of the tunnel. But the fact that this map takes away an important part of the previous map and replaces it with a drawing of the mines and where they are lessen its appeal to me.
But I do have to say that it probably helped sell the Sutro Tunnel, given the fact that investors like nice pretty graphics and pictures to look at which makes it easier to sell them an idea. Without this map I am sure the Sutro Tunnel would have been a harder sell, given that the investors would not be able to see what Sutro had planned. But the fact that it is not really a new map, just a fancied up version of an older map that was much more interesting to me makes this map a truly false map.