Campus Maps

February 10, 2010 at 3:58 pm (Uncategorized)

A campus map (Map 1): http://careers.scs.illinois.edu/images/hotels_map.gif

Another campus map (Map 2): http://careers.scs.illinois.edu/images/GradManualCampusMap1.gif

My 10 most important locations on campus (Map 3): http://tinyurl.com/geog105campus

Here I have 3 different maps of the U of I campus.  While being maps of the same area, they are all different in their own way.  Map 1 shows major roads and hotels in the campus area, but not any other details.  Map 2 has labels for all the University buildings in the campus area , and it uses colors to differentiate between buildings, walkways, streets, and grassy areas.  Map 3 is a standard street map with several points of interest marked.  It is different from Map 2 in that it is relevant from the view of one person, whereas Map 2 shows everything important to the entire University as a whole.

These differences occur because each map has a different purpose and a different audience to cater to.  The people who would use Map 1 would have no use for Maps 2 or 3, because they are interested in seeing where there are hotels they can stay at in the area.  Likewise, if one was searching for a specific building on campus, they would use Map 2, since the other two maps don’t give those details.  Map 3 would be useful if someone was going to meet me somewhere.  They could go to one of the places I spend time at, since those locations are important to me.  Each map has its own use, depending on what is needed.