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CHAIR’S MESSAGE This is being written in sweltering heat on one of the hottest days of the year, on a day when I would certainly rather be somewhere else! I attended a meeting this morning and came out of the building to be confronted by the screams of hundreds of students (and staff!) thrashing around in the University’s outdoor swimming pool. Sadly, I had to get on my bike and trail back to our campus and the reality of work. So thoughts flow to summer holidays, which I am sure we have all earned. One thing about summer is that it leads to the Indian Summer that is characteristic of the annual Summer School. Can anyone remember when we have had seriously bad weather for Summer School week? I can’t. Let’s hope the pattern is continued this year at Keele. I have been working with Rosie Duncan on the programme for this year’s conference and am confident it is as usual a varied and wide-ranging mixture of lectures, workshops, visits and social events. Having been to the campus for our committee meeting I am confident it will be a superb venue, necessarily different from Cambridge, but then all venues have their own unique flavour. The workshops look particularly strong this year, with some excellent contributors lined up both for these and for the formal lecture programme. Rosie and Andy Lawrence should be congratulated on the excellent work they have done in organising this conference for us. Full details of the Summer School are available elsewhere in this Newsletter. So, what else has your Chair been doing to further the aims of the Society? Well frankly not a great deal after I missed one and attended another of the UK Cartographic Committee meetings. As previously noted these meetings are usually fairly focussed on ICA (International Cartographic Association) matters, as UKCC is the “voice” of Cartography in this country at that forum. For instance, there is a possibility of the 2011 ICA Conference (a very prestigious event) being held in the UK. I also offered to be part of the editorial team for producing the Quadrennial report to ICA – “a collection of in-depth profiles of cartographic companies and 1 NEWSLETTER July 2006 Registered Charity No. 326285 CONTENTS Chair’s message 1 Call for papers 3 Committee nominations 3 Summer School 2006 4 Where we’ve been over the years 7 Public access to maps and data 10 News 16 Summer School bursaries 19 Wallis Award 20 Summer School booking form 21 NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS Welcome to the July issue of the SoC Newsletter. This issue has been designed for digital distribution via the Society’s website. Hard copy versions of the Newsletter are available on request. Contributions to the Newsletter are welcomed from all members. Please email all copy and photographs to [email protected]

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CHAIR’S MESSAGEThis is being written in sweltering heat on one of the hottest daysof the year, on a day when I would certainly rather be somewhereelse! I attended a meeting this morning and came out of thebuilding to be confronted by the screams of hundreds of students(and staff!) thrashing around in the University’s outdoor swimmingpool. Sadly, I had to get on my bike and trail back to our campusand the reality of work. So thoughts flow to summer holidays,which I am sure we have all earned. One thing about summer isthat it leads to the Indian Summer that is characteristic of theannual Summer School. Can anyone remember when we havehad seriously bad weather for Summer School week? I can’t. Let’shope the pattern is continued this year at Keele.

I have been working with Rosie Duncan on the programme forthis year’s conference and am confident it is as usual a variedand wide-ranging mixture of lectures, workshops, visits and socialevents. Having been to the campus for our committee meeting Iam confident it will be a superb venue, necessarily different fromCambridge, but then all venues have their own unique flavour. Theworkshops look particularly strong this year, with some excellentcontributors lined up both for these and for the formal lectureprogramme. Rosie and Andy Lawrence should be congratulatedon the excellent work they have done in organising thisconference for us. Full details of the Summer School are availableelsewhere in this Newsletter.

So, what else has your Chair been doing to further the aims of theSociety? Well frankly not a great deal after I missed one andattended another of the UK Cartographic Committee meetings.As previously noted these meetings are usually fairly focussed onICA (International Cartographic Association) matters, as UKCC isthe “voice” of Cartography in this country at that forum. Forinstance, there is a possibility of the 2011 ICA Conference (a veryprestigious event) being held in the UK. I also offered to be part ofthe editorial team for producing the Quadrennial report to ICA – “acollection of in-depth profiles of cartographic companies and

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NEWSLETTERJuly 2006

Registered Charity No. 326285

CONTENTSChair’s message 1Call for papers 3Committee nominations 3Summer School 2006 4Where we’ve been over

the years 7Public access to maps

and data 10News 16Summer School

bursaries 19Wallis Award 20Summer School

booking form 21

NEWSLETTERCONTRIBUTIONS

Welcome to the Julyissue of the SoCNewsletter. This issuehas been designed fordigital distribution via theSociety’s website. Hardcopy versions of theNewsletter are availableon request.Contributions to theNewsletter are welcomedfrom all members. Pleaseemail all copy andphotographs [email protected]

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organisations … illustrating how various types of cartography arebeing progressed in the UK”. There was a call for an explanationof Creative Commons licencing. This was answered in part byMike Wood providing a link to the CC website, and further by mywriting a short summary, which was included in the minutes and isreproduced elsewhere in this Newsletter. A by-product of themeeting, which was held at the OS premises in Southampton,was that I was able to arrange an overnight stopover with fellowSoC member Tim Aspden, with an excellent meal provided byAlison – thus allowing a leisurely stroll to the OS, rather thanthrashing round the M25 and getting all wound up (thanks for thatTim). Two further activities have been talking to the BCS Presidentabout continuing cooperation between the societies (eg futurejoint conferences) and attempting (without success so far) to getSoC represented on the UKGeoForum

While I haven’t being doing much, other members of yourcommittee have. Mike and Graham have been respectivelykeeping the secretariat and treasury in shape, whilst Heather andTim have been keeping members and subscribers in line. Thebiggest thanks should go though to Tim Absalom. He has beenworking very hard (in his spare time) on a re-design of the SoCwebsite. This has almost reached fruition, with the last touchesbeing added as I write (metaphorically). It will be launched – on anew server – between now and the Summer School in Keele.

One external event that I did attend was a Free Our Data debateat the RSA. I was attracted to it as I was following the Guardian’scampaign of that name, which I had been alerted to by a coupleof geo-blogs. I thought I would be walking into a room full of facesthat I knew from the cartographic world, but this was far from thecase, as will be seen from the report – which is availableelsewhere in the Newsletter. In parallel, it is great that the Keeleconference has a session that carries on from last year’s PublicAccess to Digital Data debate with sessions on OpenStreetMap,Freemap, Public Authoring across the Digital Divide, and Mapsfor the Masses (Google Earth). I hope that you will be tempted bythese presentations, and the rest of the programme, and that I willsee as many of you as possible in September. I am really lookingforward to it, especially as I am planning a couple of days in theLakes straight afterwards, before heading to Manchester, where Ihave been invited to give a revised version of my paper onWainwright in a BCS session entitled “Playing with Maps”. So nowork and much play in that particular week for me! Oh yeah, I’vegot to write and give my speech at the SoC Annual Dinner yet, sonot ALL play.

Steve ChiltonSoC Chair

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Steve Chilton

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CALL FOR BULLETIN MATERIAL

This is a call for material for the next SoC Bulletin. I am lookingin particular for main articles for the Bulletin, but also shortarticles, map/atlas/book reviews, software reviews and/orinformation on new products. So, if you have something thatyou feel you want to share with the cartographic communitythen please get in touch with the editor by phone, fax or email(details below) to let me know if you would be interested inhaving any material published. The next issue of the Bulletin willbe put together following the 2006 Summer School in Keele,and contributions need to be with me by the end of September.Further information about the Bulletin, plus content from recentissues is available at: http://www.soc.org.uk/bulletin/bulletin.html

Notes to Contributors giving further information aboutsubmitting material are provided in the next column. Do nothesitate to contact me if you require further information.

STEVE CHILTON SoC Acting Bulletin EditorTel/Fax: 020 8411 5355Email: [email protected]

Notes to contributorsContributions to the SoCBulletin, both short and long,are welcomed from membersand non-members of theSociety. Any subject matterrelating to cartography in itswidest interpretation is invited,but articles on techniques andideas applicable to thepracticing cartographer areparticularly welcome.Information about newproducts is also welcomedfrom manufacturers.

Major articles should beprefaced by a brief abstract(maximum 100 words), andreferences should be listedalphabetically by author’ssurname at the end of thearticle. Contributors shouldinclude a short personalbiography. If you want tosubmit material forpublication, please contactthe Editor in the first instance.

COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS 2006

Members of the Committee retire each year but may offer themselves for re-election at the AGMof the Society. Full members of the Society who wish to stand for election to the Committeemay be nominated by two or more members. Full members are encouraged to to apply forelection to all posts. Nominations must be with the Honorary Secretary prior to the AGM.

Please print the following application form and complete in full or send the appropriate details to:

Mike Shand, Hon. Secretary, Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

We wish to Nominate:

Post on Committee:

Proposer’s signature:

Seconder’s signature:

Nominee’s signature:

NOMINATIONS MUST BE WITH THE SECRETARY PRIOR TO THE AGM

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SOC SUMMER SCHOOL 2006 KEELE UNIVERSITY

The 42nd Annual Summer School of the Society of Cartographerswill be held at Keele University from 4–7 September.

Information about the 2006 Summer School can be found byvisiting www.soc.org.uk or the official Summer School websiteat www.esci.keele.ac.uk/soc/index.html.

Sessions, workshops and exhibitions will be held in the School ofPhysical and Geographical Sciences. The department is a shorttaxi ride from Stoke-on-Trent or Newcastle-under-Lyme. (Earlyarrivals will be welcome on Sunday 4th September, pm).

The Summer School generally attracts over 100 delegates. It offersa stimulating programme over four days involving lectures,discussions, workshops and visits on a variety of cartographicthemes. The Summer School is an ideal forum for cartographicand associated staff and/or students to develop and expand theirskills and knowledge on current developments in cartography.

A MESSAGE FROM LOCAL ORGANISERS ROSIE DUNCAN AND ANDY LAWRENCE

Preparations are progressing smoothly and we have a fullprogramme of speakers in place with wide ranging subjects …historical cartography to the very latest smart phone technology.A variety of interesting visits on Tuesday afternoon and afascinating array of workshops and demonstrations onWednesday will ensure there is something for everyone.

Keele University is fortunate to be situated within easy reach ofthe M6 and train stations at Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent. TheCampus is set in beautiful surroundings. All rooms are en suite,excellent catering provision, sports facilities - just some of thereasons for Keele winning awards and recognition as a premierconference location.

There are all the usual chill out events … quiz and annual dinnerwith opportunity to network with friends old and new. What areyou waiting for … book now!

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There are all the usualchill out events … quizand annual dinner withopportunity to networkwith friends old andnew. What are youwaiting for … book now!

SUMMER SCHOOL

This year’s SoC annualSummer School will be heldat Keele University between4–7 September.

Hosted by the Departmentof Geography, theprogramme will be as variedand interesting for bothpracticing cartographersand students of our subjectalike.

Information about the 42ndSummer School can befound by visitingwww.esci.keele.ac.uk/soc/index.html. The website isupdated regularly so whynot bookmark the site andmake sure you visitregularly?

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PROGRAMMEMonday 4th September

SESSION 1• The Stoke on Trent conurbation

Brian Turton – Senior Research fellow, Keele University• Cheshire and Staffordshire atlases

Tony Phillips – Reader in Historical geography Keele University• Emotion map of Greenwich

Christian Nold – Artist, Lecturer and cultural activist

SESSION 2• William Smith (1769–1839) and the cartography of geology

Hugh Torrens – Historian and renowned expert on WilliamSmith

• Maps and waterways historyRichard Dean – specialist in history of waterways andwaterway cartography

• Cartographic ideals and geopolitical realities: the International(1:1 million) Map of the World from the 1890s to 1970sMike Heffernan – Professor of Historical GeographyNottingham University

Quiz

Tuesday 5th September

SESSION 3• Best practice pedestrian mapping for encouraging walking

Jim Walker – Managing director The Access Company andChair of Walk21 among many others

• Tourist mappingWendy Price – Wendy Price Cartography

• To be confirmedSusan Harvey, Harvey Maps

VISITS• RAF Shawbury• Cheshire and Chester Archive Office• Apedale Heritage Centre• Jodrell Bank• Wedgwood Factory tour and visitor centre

Wednesday 6th September

SESSION 4• Green Mapping of Wiltshire

Ruth Baker – Wiltshire Wildlife Trust• Mapping Air Emissions

Katie King – Principal Consultant Netcen• Viewranger

Craig Wareham

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A variety of interestingvisits on Tuesdayafternoon and afascinating array ofworkshops anddemonstrations onWednesday will ensurethere is something foreveryone.

Summer School 2006•

Keele

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SESSION 5• Open Street Map: The First Year

Steve Coast• Freemap: Freemapping for the Countryside

Nick Whitelegg• Public Authoring Across the Digital Divide

Giles Lane – Co-Director proboscis & Research Associate LSE• Maps for the Masses (Cartography and Google Earth)

Richard Treves – Learning Technologist SouthamptonUniversity

MEMBERS’ SESSION

WORKSHOPS• Open Street Map• Freehand to Adobe Illustrator conversion• Weaving Sensory Threads Across Time and Space• MapInfo• Anquet Maps• MaPublisher 7• Google Earth• TARA (The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives)• Viewranger

Thursday 7th September

SESSION 6• The Use of GIS and maps in local authority work

Shone Frost and Andy Leak• Accessibility planning in north Staffordshire

John Nichol• GIS for HSE

Graham Smith – Researcher IESR (Institute for Environment,Sustainability and Regeneration, Staffordshire University)

SESSION 7• Flood mapping

Claire Harley• Redesigning the underground map

Mike Eardley – FWT UK’s leading supplier of Transportcartography

CLOSE OF CONFERENCE

See www.esci.keele.ac.uk/soc/index.htmlfor more information.

Set in magnificentparkland including anarboretum andoverlooked by statelyKeele Hall, KeeleUniversity is an excellentvenue for the 2006 SoCSummer School

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London venuesLSE 1966

King’s 1978Middlesex 1985 1997

Start from Glasgow in 1964and follow the annual trek to thenext Summer School venue.

This should finally take you tothe 2006 Summer School atKeele and onward toPortsmouth in 2007.

SOC SUMMER SCHOOL ~WHERE WE’VE BEEN OVER THE YEARS?

Newcastle1994

Edinburgh1968 1998Glasgow

1964 1991

St Andrews1982

Aberdeen1977

Lancaster1984

Dublin1987

Manchester1972

Liverpool1965 2002

Sheffield1973 1995

Keele2006

Nottingham1969 1996

Leicester1967 1971 2001

Milton Keynes1989

Cambridge1970 2005

Coventry1988

Oxford1979 2000

London1966 19781985 1997

Reading1983 2003

Southampton1999

Cardiff1986Swansea

1974

Lampeter1993

Bristol2004

Exeter1976

Plymouth1992

Portsmouth1975 1990 2007

Rotterdam1980

Norwich1981

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PUBLIC ACCESS TO MAPS AND DATA

CREATIVE COMMONS COPYRIGHT LICENCE

A Creative Commons (CC) licence enables copyright holdersto grant some of their rights to the public while retainingothers through a variety of licensing and contract schemesincluding dedication to the public domain or open contentlicensing terms. The intention is to avoid the problemscurrent copyright laws create for the sharing of information.

There are six main licenses offered when you choose topublish your work with a Creative Commons licence. Theyvary from the most restrictive license type you can chooseand to the most accommodating license type you canchoose.

Baseline rights and restrictions in all licenses

All Creative Commons licenses have many importantfeatures in common, it is just the detail that distinguish them.Every licence will help you retain your copyrightannouncement that other people’s fair use, first sale, and freeexpression rights are not affected by the license. Everylicense requires licencees to get your permission to do any ofthe things you choose to restrict – e.g., make a commercialuse, create a derivative work; to keep any copyright noticeintact on all copies of your work; to link to your license fromcopies of the work; not to alter the terms of the license not touse technology to restrict other licensees’ lawful uses of thework. Every license allows licensees, provided they live up toyour conditions, to copy the work, to distribute it, to displayor perform it publicly, to make digital public performances ofit (e.g., webcasting), to shift the work into another format as averbatim copy. Every license applies worldwide, lasts for theduration of the work’s copyright and is not revocable

Case studies

So, who is using it? • The BBC’s Creative Archive Licence is based on CC

(http://creativearchive.bbc.co.uk/).

What about specific mapping cases? • The Journal of Maps publishes under a version of the

licence (http://www.journalofmaps.com/)Dodge and Kitchen’s Atlas of Cyberspaces website isusing it (http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/)

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Every license requireslicencees to get yourpermission to do any ofthe things you choose torestrict

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• The OpenStreetMap project is licenced under it(http://www.openstreetmap.org/). There is currently adebate in this field on the value and need for licensing thepublicly available data behind the maps through CC.

• Christian Node’s Biomapping research uses it(http://biomapping.net/)

ReferencesCreative Commons websites:http://creativecommons.org/http://creativecommons.org.uk/

Creative Commons Deed for Journal of Maps and forOpenStreetMap respectively:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Article by Mike Smith entitled “Open access journal publication:

methods of implementation and copyright issues”, published in

Society of Cartographers Bulletin, 39, 21–24, and available in full from

the author’s website, with powerpoint slides from the presentation at

the 2nd URL:

http://www.lecturematerials.co.uk/thesis/abstracts/Smith_2005_SoC.pdf

http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/gem/soc2005/ppts.htm

Steve ChiltonSoC Chair

NATIONAL STATISTICS 2001 AREACLASSIFICATION RELEASED

The Census Dissemination Unit (CDU) at MIMAS, based atthe University of Manchester, is pleased to announce therelease of the National Statistics 2001 Area Classification viaCasweb, the CDU’s online interface to census data.

The National Statistics 2001 Area Classification comparesgeographic areas in terms of a range of populationcharacteristics derived from the 2001 Census, and groupsthem into a hierarchy of clusters sharing similar combinationsof those characteristics. There are three levels of clusterswithin the classification, the largest of which contains seven‘super-groups’, which are split into twenty one ‘groups’, andthen further split into fifty two ‘subgroups’. Clusters are givennames reflecting their particular combinations ofcharacteristics, such as ‘Thriving London Periphery’, ‘New &Growing Towns’ or ‘Industrial Hinterlands’, for example.

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Maps and Society

The Warburg Institute

Sixteenth Series2006–2007

Lectures in the history ofcartography convened byCatherine Delano Smith(Institute of HistoricalResearch) and TonyCampbell (formerly MapLibrary, British Library).Meetings are held onselected Thursdays at TheWarburg Institute, Universityof London,Woburn Square,London WC1H OAB at 5.00pm. Admission is free.Meetings are followed byrefreshments. All are mostwelcome. Enquiries: +44 (0)20 8346 5112 (Dr DelanoSmith).

October 19. Dr RobinWoolven (LondonTopographical Society) ‘TheLondon County CouncilBomb Damage Maps 1939-1945’.

November 23. Malcolm G.H.Bishop (IndependentScholar) ‘The 1518 Map inSir Thomas More’s Utopia:Dentistry Solves theMystery’.

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1st MapMemoConference on “TheFuture of Putting Fileson Maps”

MapMemo has announcedthe 1st MapMemoConference to be held on 7September in Guarda,Switzerland.

This first MapMemoConference will be a one-day event. The organiserswon’t have thousands ofparticipants and dozens ofViP-Speakers, but arelooking forward to seeinginterested parties attend.

Anyone wanting to present apaper on “The Future ofPutting Files on Maps” isinvited to submit anabstract. Freeaccommodation and helpwith the travel costs isoffered.

The conference will mark the2nd birthday and expected15000th download ofMapMemo worldwide. A conference will beorganised every two yearsfrom 2008.

Further information andregistration details areavilable at:[email protected]

Similar classifications were produced following censuses in1971, 1981 and 1991, but this is the first time that such aclassification has been produced for the entire UK. 2001Area Classification data is available from Casweb -http://www.census.ac.uk/casweb/ - at local authority, wardand output area levels of geography, based on the 2003boundaries used for 2001 Census outputs. AreaClassification data is not currently available from Casweb forScottish postcode sectors, as it was not produced for thisgeography, but rather for Scottish wards, which are not astandard census geography. Area Classification data forScottish Standard Table wards is available from the ONS2001 Area Classification website.

For further information and links to related sites, visit theNational Statistics 2001 Area Classification pages of the CDUwebsite at http://census.ac.uk/cdu/2001/areaclass/.

FREE OUR DATA: SHOULD PUBLIC SECTORINFORMATION BE AVAILABLE TO ALL FOR THE

COST OF REPRODUCTION?

Lecture: 17 July 2006 at the Royal Society for the encouragementof Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), London

In association with The Guardian

A panel discussion with speakers to include Paul Crake, RSAProgramme Director; Charles Arthur, Technology Editor, TheGuardian; Vanessa Lawrence, Director General and CEO,Ordnance Survey; Carol Tullo, Director, OPSI (Office of PublicSector Information) and Controller and Queen’s Printer (HMSO),Cabinet Office and David Vaver, Director, Oxford IntellectualProperty Research Centre. Chaired by Derek Wyatt MP,Chairman, All-Party Internet Group.

Having been following the Guardian’s Free our data campaign,1

and having a considerable personal as well as professionalinterest in the topic, I decided to attend a public debate at theRSA. It was a steaming hot evening and the magnificent GreatRoom at the RSA had no air conditioning. I walked in andimmediately bumped into Bob Parry, and sat and chatted with himwhilst waiting for the capacity audience to assemble prior to theintroductions. As will be seen the panel was pretty high powered,and it subsequently turned out that there were some equallypowerful people in the audience (the CEOs of the UKHO, and theNational Archives for instance).

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What follows is necessarily a condensation of the debate, as Iwas speed writing notes and trying to follow points at the sametime. I also couldn’t always catch questioners names/affiliationsso these have been left out to avoid wrongfull attribution.Interested parties should go to the RSA website,2 where there willeventually be an audio download of the debate and a texttranscription in PDF format.

Paul Crake started proceedings by outlining a little of the historyof the RSA, ending saying that they had an “economic approach”to the intellectual property argument. Next Charles Arthuroutlined the reasoning behind the Guardian’s campaign –basically revolving round the “we pay our taxes for the data to becollected and then are asked to pay again to access the data”argument. One example he used of the anomalous situation isthat the tide data that you have to pay the UKHO to access is alsoavailable for free from another supplier through the internet.David Vaver talked through the variations in approach in differentcultures to intellectual property rights (IPR). There can almost betwo polar opposites – the all-encompassing Crown Copyright inthe UK to the almost copyright-free USA (although he pointed outthat sub-contracted work there is copyrighted). Then Carol Tullogave an overview of the OPSI perspective, which was for a lighttouch approach, reflecting the liberalisation of government dataavailability in the last few years, which much being availablethrough organisation’s websites. Finally, Vanessa Lawrencesummarised the OS position. She pointed out that therequirement to produce a definitive Mastermap of Britain hasproduced the largest geo-database in the world – which ouputsto traditional paper maps and to digital representations and datasubsets. She also pointed out the target of 6 months to get everynew or changed data item into their database, and the fact thatsince their adoption of Trading Fund status in 1999 they havereturned a 5.5% dividend to the government.

At this point the Chair (Derek Whyatt) offered the debate to thefloor for questions. These came thick and fast, and in my opinionwere responded to by the panel, but frequently NOT ACTUALLYANSWERED (all very political). For that reason, I have tried to listsome of the questions asked or comments made. Again refer tonote 2 for a fuller report.

• Shouldn’t technology, not copyright, be used to protectintellectual property?

• Don’t Trading Funds have a conflict of interests, providingsome free and some not free services, and even

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The [questions] camethick and fast, and in myopinion were respondedto by the panel, butfrequently NOTACTUALLY ANSWERED(all very political).

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differentiating the same service for internal and externalmarkets?

• Ownership is not the way forward. OS’s copyright position istoo restrictive.

• The USA is not a good example to use as their data is very outof date and often not fit-for-purpose.

• Is the current approach to accessibility of data suitable intoday’s democracy?

• If data were free we would have to pay in some other way,how? Why not try giving away data and see what happens?

• Why do OS’s partners not get same preferential rates as OS’sinternal units?

• The UKHO has to pay large sums to those that collect thedata for them.

• The use of National Statistics data mushroomed whenclick/view technology was introduced.

• Isn’t it time for politicians to be involved?

• Why can’t we have predictable licensing rather than theminefield that currently exists?

• What about the copyrighting of database contents?

• The National Archive does what Guardian is arguing for –allows access to data “at cost of production”.

Having chosen not to attribute comments/questions it is worthnoting that they came from speakers from (among others, and inno particular order) – UKHO, National Archives, Right-to-knowcampaign, MySociety, Open Knowledge Foundation,openstreetmap.org, UCL, GDC, and Lockhurst.

The debate lasted from 6 till 7.30pm and was followed by somenice wine and networking in the RSA basement. A quick chat withMike Smith of JournalofMaps (who spoke at Cambridge last year),and then I hooked up with some guys from the openstreetmapproject. Having discussed the failings of the debate – we basicallywould have preferred a standup fight between the Guardian andthe OS – we ranged over many topics. This developed into asocial extension at a pub called the Savoy Tup, where we werejoined by Michael Cross and another colleague from the GuardianTechnology campaign. It was interesting to hear about theGuardian’s adoption of such a campaign – which to me was more

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…we basically wouldhave preferred astandup fight betweenthe Guardian and theOS…

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of a tabloid tactic (shout loud and hope it either changessomething or goes away).

Two asides to this evening. Firstly was the fact that Ed Parsons(OS’s CTO, who also spoke to us at Cambridge) was on theoriginal panel and was replaced at some point by the CEO. Shelooked across nervously at him (in the audience, but not actuallycontributing to the debate) as she made a couple of points duringthe debate. Secondly, the Guardian blog reported the very nextday that “OPSI finds against OS in row over AddressPointlicensing”. OPSI (whose representative was sitting next to OS’son the panel incidentally) basically upheld Intelligent Addressing’scomplaint about OS internal and external licencing terms with it’s“partners”. I do not know what powers OPSI have, but thiscertainly seems like a case of restraint of trade by OS. Again,more information will presumably come down through variousblogs and news articles. Overall, though, a fascinating meeting,with great insight into the various positions held by thestakeholders in this debate, which I am sure will run and run.

Footnote: Thursday’s Guardian had a full report on the meeting,3

and on the same day Ed Parsons’ thoughts on the debateappeared on his blog.4

Notes:

See Thursday’s Technology Guardian and the blog at:http://www.freeourdata.org.uk/blog/index.php

RSA website: http://www.thersa.org/events/ should have audioand txt available later.

Guardian report on meeting: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1823953,00.html

Ed Parsons’ blog: http://www.edparsons.com/

Steve Chilton SoC Chair

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The “Big” Shave

May I say a big thank you toall who contributed to theBig Shave. Having my beardand hair shaved offcompletely (after having abeard for 20 years) was ahighly traumatic experiencefor me. The upside was thatit seemed to catch people’simagination and raised over£1600 for charity.

This was divided £1300 toWaterAid (over my originaltarget of £1,000) and £300to Arthur Rank Hospice (whocared for Pam Spoerry).Much amusement ensued atmeetings at work withpeople not recognising me,and long-standing friendswalking straight past me inthe street!

After being called Gollum byone of my mates I decidedthe look didn’t cut it for meand I have reverted to a“controlled” chin beard andshort hair. So all those whowere expecting to see aradically different looking meat Keele will have to rely onthe photographic evidence.

Thanks again.

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NEWS

THE UK’S INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE ON THE MAP

A campaign which seeks to recognise how coal mining hasshaped the landscape of South Yorkshire has developed into amore significant project which is to involve the Ordnance Surveyfollowing the support of 85 Members of Parliament fromconstituencies across the country.

The campaign is being suported by singer Billy Bragg and hasreceived the support of Blaydon MP Dave Anderson who himselfworked in the mining industry between 1969 and 1989. Dave said:“The cultural history and the political legacy of the miners andtheir unions can never be over estimated. They shaped the historyof this country for 200 years and it is fitting and proper that thecommunities they built and the work they did should never beforgotten. They built schools, houses and sports grounds. Theypromoted the Arts in music and literature. They literally fuelled theIndustrial Revolution. They developed institutions andorganisations that became a model for democratic nations theworld over. Our country is a poorer place following the devastationof their communities, their culture and their commitment.

“We owe the miners a great debt and this proposal is a genuinelylasting testament that would really put them on the map.”

The Ordnance Survey responded to the campaign by meetingwith campaign leader Rachel Horne and Dave Anderson and isnow considering the creation of a National Industrial Heritage Mapwhich would mark the sites of coal, steel and other industriesacross the UK.

The campaign will now focus on creating a database of allindustrial heritage sites across the UK for the map by:

• creating a database of regenerated colliery site/slagheapswhich would be of interest to walkers, cyclists and othergroups and would therefore fit the criteria to appear on the1:25000 scale maps;

• getting local authorities to recognised that regeneratedcolliery sites should be marked with a suitable symbol; and

• promoting the former colliery sites as tourist attractions, inorder to demonstrate to OS there is something to see and doat some of the former colliery sites.

Dave Anderson continues: “The creation of the National CycleNetwork which in many areas utilises former mineral railway linesis evidence that our industrial heritage, once thought to be part ofthe past, can easily be brought back into uses appropriate for the21st century.”

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“We owe the miners agreat debt and thisproposal is a genuinelylasting testament thatwould really put them onthe map.”

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ADOBE’S PLANS FOR ‘FREEHAND’

There has been much speculation about the future of some ofMacromedia’s key products following the completion of Adobe’sacquisition of the US software developer during 2005.Cartographers make use of Adobe Illustrator or MacromediaFreehand to produce maps, often in conjunction with third partyproducts such as Avenza’s MaPublisher. Some use BOTHproducts and both have useful features for the production of printand web quality maps.

Attempting to reassure users of Macromedia’s products, Adobehas issued a statement which says: “Adobe plans to continue tosupport GoLive and Freehand and develop these products basedon our customer’s needs”.

While Adobe’s statement will go some way to reassure Freehandusers, the Society of Cartographers recognises that somecartographers may want to gain expertise in Illustrator with a viewto switching their workflow or simply to brush up on their skills justin case. A workshop will be held at the SoC Summer School atKeele University between 4–7 September 2006.

MAP DEALER ADMITS 97 CASES OF THEFT

A New England rare-map dealer, Edward Forbes Smiley III, haspleaded guilty to an eight year crime spree which saw nearly 100maps worth £1.6m removed from leading institutions includingthe British Library.

Smiley was arrested at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book andManuscript Library after he was discovered carrying seven mapscut from books using a scalpel blade.

It seems that Smiley had targeted several libraries including theNew York and Boston public libraries, Harvard University, theBritish Library in London as well as a private library in Chicago,using his reputation as one of the “inner circle” to gain access tothe works.

OS STAFF STAGE WALK OUT OVER PAY

Cartographers and other workers at the Ordnance Survey inSouthampton have planned a 12-hour walk out following a failureto reach agreement between the Public and Commercial Servicesunion (PCS) and the OS over pay.

Despite OS claims that the pay offer is “fair, realistic andaffordable”, a PCS spokesman maintained that workers’ patiencehas run out following a succession of poor pay offers.

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“Adobe plans tocontinue to supportGoLive and Freehandand develop theseproducts based on ourcustomer’s needs.”

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MAPUBLISHER 7 OUT NOW

Avenza, developers of Geographic Imager, MAPublisher,MAPdataWorld and MajorCitiesUSA, have announced the releaseof MAPublisher 7.0 for Adobe Illustrator CS and CS2.

This new version of the software, which allows cartographers toproduce high quality maps from GIS data while working within theenvironment of leading vector graphics packages, boastssignificant new functionality including a new intelligent labelingengine, new grid, graticules and scalebar generators, new andimproved MAP attributes engine with expression builder,advanced selection filters and support for double-byte charactersets. More information at www.avenza.com.

EXHIBITION

Vermessen: Kartographie der Tropen:(Between Cancer and Capricorn: The Cartographyof the Tropics)

Museen Dahlem – Kunst und Kulturen der Welt –Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin

20 May–27 August 2006

More than 10 institutions and museums located in Berlin arecontributing to this joint project.

The exhibition offers an introduction to the early cartographies ofEurope, China, and the Arab world. Voyages of discovery areincluded in the exhibition to demonstrate how the Europeanpicture of the Earth gradually took shape. In addition, Cook’sjourneys around the world exemplify how, in the South Seas,European cartography made acquaintance with the stick charts,an elaborate indigenous method of cartography. Sincediscoveries often went hand in hand with colonization, colonialcartography is also an important issue in that context. The colonialpowers mapped “their” territories as quickly as possible in orderto establish their spheres of influence.

The exhibition is part of the project “Auf dem Weg zum Humboldt-Forum” (“On the Way to the Humboldt Forum”), in preparation ofthe new Forum for non-European Cultures, arts and sciences inthe New Middle of Berlin.

A German language book which accompanies the exhibitioncontaining 112 pages with about 85 illustrations, most of them incolor is available by quoting ISBN number 3-88609-531-2.

This new version…boasts significant newfunctionality including anew intelligent labelingengine…

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SUMMER SCHOOL BURSARIES

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS 31 July ANNUALLYAND NOTIFICATION by 14 August 2006

The Society of Cartographers offers TWO bursaries to allow full attendance at their AnnualSummer School.

The bursary offer is open to student and overseas members only. Each bursary will cover aSummer School full attendance package and registration. Travel costs to and from the SoCSummer School will NOT be covered by the bursary.

The aim of the bursary is to give financial assistance to members who would otherwise be unableto attend due to lack of other financial support. Submissions will be reviewed by the Bursarysub-committee and successful applicants will be notified by 15th July annually.

The 2006 Annual Summer School of the Society is being hosted by Keele University and will beheld between 4–7 September 2006. Details of the programme and contact details for the localorganisers can be found by visiting www.soc.org.uk.

To apply for a Bursary please print the following application form and complete in full or send theappropriate details to:

Mike Shand, Hon. Secretary, Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

BURSARY APPLICATION FORM

Name Organisation

Address/postcode

Membership number

Membership category (tick one box)

Email Student Overseas

Comments to support this application

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WALLIS AWARD 2006

Entries are invited from members of the Society of Cartographers for this year’s Wallis Award (forcartographic work completed during the period September 2005 to September 2006).

Entries should be accompanied by either a descriptive display panel or a written commentary,giving background details and technical information relating to the method of production.Submitted entries must comprise cartographic design or production undertaken in full or asmajority effort by a member of the Society of Cartographers.

Entries can be produced by either digital or traditional technology, in monochrome or multi-colour and may consist of a single map, a series of maps for a publication or an atlas. Thecriteria for judging will consider such factors as overall clarity; balanced layout and design;aesthetic appearance; content fit for purpose; and the appropriate selection and use of colours,type and symbology. The basis for the award is “excellence in cartography”.

The current award, courtesy of Honorary Member Mr David Wallis, provides a sum of £100 plusa certificate for the successful entrant. Notification and details (particularily size and format) ofthe entries should be sent to the Hon. Secretary, together with a note of your membershipnumber, as soon as possible and by 31 August 2006 at latest. The entry itself should either beforwarded to the Hon. Secretary or submitted at the beginning of the Summer School.

Judging will take place during the week of the Cartography 2006 Summer School at KeeleUniversity where all entries will be exhibited. Please print the following entry form and completein full or send the appropriate details to:

Mike Shand, Hon. Secretary, Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

WALLIS AWARD ENTRY FORM 2006

Title of entry

Name of entrant

Address/postcode

Telephone

Email

Organisation

Membership number

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