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- About the Cover
Authors: Atlas Guo
Pages: 3 - 3
PubDate: 2025-03-25
- Introduction to Ethics in Cartography
Authors: Aileen R. Buckley, Nat Case
Pages: 5–12 - 5–12
PubDate: 2025-03-24
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1997
- A Feeling About Ethics
Authors: Nat Case
Pages: 13 - 13
Abstract: As you might expect, editing an issue like this has affected how my co-editor Aileen and I think about ethics itself. The collection of case studies in this issue was intended to focus on ethics as a practice rather than a theory. We ended up not including several contributions because they did not focus on that practice—on the agency of acting ethically. Instead, some of these contributions expressed a feeling of non-agency or being wronged, and described how their authors reacted to that experience.
PubDate: 2025-03-24
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1947
- Regrets
Authors: Daniel P. Huffman
Pages: 14–1 - 14–1
Abstract: Creative fields such as ours thrive on critique. For many of us, being part of a network of cartographic professionals means exchanging advice and feedback with colleagues, including suggestions for improvement. It can also mean silently observing the maps of others and pondering, consciously or otherwise, how we might do things differently. This process of thinking critically about other people’s maps, by and large, helps us all grow our skills. But, the reality of human nature means that the urge to critique can sometimes lead to toxic outcomes that harm our community. This I know from personal experience, for I was once a source of such negativity.
PubDate: 2025-03-24
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1969
- Ethical Dilemmas in Early Career: Reflections on a GIS Internship
Experience and its Echo in Geospatial Teaching
Authors: Mairéad de Róiste
Pages: 18–2 - 18–2
Abstract: During an internship in an Irish local authority council, I was asked to complete an ethically questionable task. I completed the task without conscious consideration of its impacts. Although I gained valuable skills from the process, I failed to critically engage with the task and reflect on whether or not it should have been done, as well as my role in its completion. Based on my internship, other personal experiences, and conversations with colleagues, I now create space in my geospatial courses for practical conversation about ethics and argue the importance of critically considering and then reflecting on tasks. These conversations sit beside discussion of broader ethical issues, such as data availability and sovereignty. I advocate here for the importance of practical ethics in geospatial education—a focus on the small and the individual, as well as the wider ethical issues facing cartography and the broader geospatial industry. For professionals in the industry, I also believe it’s essential to create space for open discussion and reflecting on our specific experiences can be beneficial in thinking about the broader role we play in the spatial profession.
PubDate: 2025-03-24
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1941
- Interview with an Anonymous Graphics Reporter
Authors: Anonymous, Aileen R. Buckley
Pages: 22–2 - 22–2
Abstract: A conversation with a graphics reporter for a widely circulated American newspaper revealed the unique nature of the role, work, and ethics of graphics reporting. Operating under intense deadlines, graphics reporters must carefully balance the newsroom’s need for speed and pressure for performance with the cartographer’s meticulous attention to detail and iterative mapmaking process. Collaboration between the news reporter, graphics reporter, graphics editor, and, ultimately, the reader, can both facilitate and hinder the graphics report’s work. Knowing that many people, some with the power to make decisions with serious consequences, will read their maps, graphics reporters operate under pressures that, while not unknown to other mapmakers, do not affect them as frequently. Guiding their decisions and actions in this high-stakes, high-pressure environment are the ethics of both journalism and cartography, which don’t always converge.
PubDate: 2025-03-24
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1991
- The Harm Mapping Project: Navigating Ethics and Collaboration in Map
Design
Authors: Lily Houtman, Dana Cuomo, Madison Dennehy, Meredith Forman, Abigail Zea, Susan Hannan
Pages: 27–3 - 27–3
Abstract: This article details the ethical challenges we encountered while designing maps for The Harm Mapping Project. Led by Dana Cuomo, Susan Hannan, and three undergraduate student research assistants (Madison Dennehy, Meredith Forman, and Abigail Zea), The Harm Mapping Project examines the geography of gender-based violence occurring at Lafayette College, a small (approx. 2,700 undergraduate students) residential liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Data collection entailed a participatory mapping exercise in which individual students were instructed to use stickers to mark locations on a blank campus map where they had experienced gender-based violence. Different color stickers indicated different types of harm (e.g., sexual assault, verbal harassment, unwanted touching, stalking, physical abuse, and feeling vulnerable to experience gender-based violence). In addition to better understanding where on campus the student body has experienced gender-based violence, a secondary objective of the project includes providing recommendations to Lafayette College administrators regarding ways to modify the built environment to help prevent future harm from occurring. To support these objectives, the research team began working with Lily Houtman, a trained cartographer, to incorporate feminist design principles into the mapping of the project’s data for public-facing audiences. Here, we describe our design process and share takeaways for cartographers working on similar projects.
PubDate: 2025-03-24
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1943
- The “AfterMap” of the February 2023 Earthquakes in
Türkiye
Authors: Seda Şalap-Ayça
Pages: 34–3 - 34–3
Abstract: In this first-person narrative, I explore the ethical challenges encountered while providing mapping support in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye, a disaster that impacted 2.65 million people across several major cities. This crisis underscored the essential role of geospatial data in disaster response, while also exposing the disparities in data access and representation globally. Many vulnerable communities lack the resources needed to benefit equally from these efforts, leaving a critical gap often addressed by volunteer organizations. Through our collaboration with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, my students and I engaged in digitizing essential map data, witnessing firsthand its transformative effect on disaster response. Despite the inherent challenges and uncertainties in volunteer mapping, each contribution plays a vital role in bridging spatial data gaps and enhancing resilience against natural disasters. This collective effort, following in the footprints of former collaborative mapping efforts, highlights the importance of collaborative action in crisis mapping. By sharing this experience, I aim to shed light on the inequalities present in disaster situations and advocate for more equitable and inclusive approaches to disaster relief. Providing accurate information about unmapped areas and their needs can help pave the way for fairer distribution of aid. As environmental hazards grow more frequent and severe, the insights from this reflection on our mapping journey offer valuable perspectives on equity in digital cartography, with the potential for significant societal benefits.
PubDate: 2025-03-24
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1983
- Ethical Reflections on Making the Untitled ṮEṮÁĆES
Map
Authors: Kim Shortreed
Pages: 40–4 - 40–4
Abstract: TEMOSEṈ (Charles “Chazz” Elliott), a professional artist and carver working from a family studio in W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip) First Nation, and Kim Shortreed, a settler immigrant artist and scholar, teamed up to challenge Western cartographic traditions through Untitled ṮEṮÁĆES, the first prototype of a haptic map, an art/map concept created by Shortreed during his Ph.D. project. Having completed and shown the map at a local gallery, Kim now reflects on the ethics of creative and cultural ownership, toponymic justice, and cartographic colonization.
PubDate: 2025-03-24
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1973
- A Discussion on the Ethics of Mapping Place Names for Riverine Forests in
Tana River, Kenya
Authors: Laura C. Loyola, Julie Wieczkowski, Rose Abae, Lara Allen, Stanislaus Kivai, Susan Tang, Leyna Tran
Pages: 47–5 - 47–5
Abstract: We are an international group of researchers and conservationists with expertise in biological anthropology, environmental studies, international development, spatial sciences, and community-centered conservation. With over thirty years of combined research and lived experience in the Tana River region of Kenya, local place names for forests and woodlands have been shared with us through personal interactions, participatory mapping workshops, and other community workshops. We present an ongoing discussion about the ethics of publishing local names of sections of riverine forest patches and other locales, especially without inter- and intra-community agreement on these names. This conversation is especially critical for sustainable forest resource utilization, human-wildlife conflict, and biodiversity conservation. We present cartographic options and spatial analysis methods to reconcile the already-published names with the locally-named places and to preserve the privacy of villagers’ activities. Also important are the implications for land ownership, rights, and control that claiming place names may have in this region at this time in history as land rights are presently being negotiated between different ethnic groups and clans. We explore a potential for harmonizing a naming system built upon consensus within the many invested Kenyan communities and anchored in their traditional way of naming places. We acknowledge that an ethical approach would be to publish names used by local people, but this is complicated by lack of local consensus.
PubDate: 2025-03-25
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1985
- Ethical Challenges in Analyzing and Mapping Historical Demographic Changes
and Migration Using Population-Scale Family Trees
Authors: Caglar Koylu, Alice Bee Kasakoff
Pages: 55–6 - 55–6
Abstract: Despite the progress made toward generating and utilizing population-scale family trees to study historical population dynamics, little is known about their representativeness for the entire population. In this article, we confront the inherent complexities and biases in historical data collection and shed light on the extensive areas of history that remain unknown, unrecorded, or inaccurately portrayed. Although we do not provide definitive solutions for these data gaps, we aim to initiate a dialogue on these critical issues, contributing to the discourse on ethical data collection and representation in historical research. We first report on the preliminary results of a record linkage experiment between family tree records and a historical census, emphasizing the need for methods that integrate historical data from multiple sources to systematically evaluate representativeness. The experiment reveals significant underrepresentation of certain groups in the United States, notably Native American, Black, and Mexican persons, as well as those from eastern Europe, southern Europe, and Ireland. These findings underscore the ethical responsibilities that should guide historical research, including the need to address underrepresentation and improve methodologies to better reflect the diversity of population dynamics and migration patterns. To complement these efforts, we advocate for the use of interactive story maps to amplify the qualitative narratives of underrepresented populations and integrate them into the broader historical narrative. Our endeavor to map migration and demographic changes is not just about tracing the past; it’s about shaping a more equitable and comprehensive understanding of history that honors the diversity of all its participants.
PubDate: 2025-03-25
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1945
- Cartographic Considerations for Ethical Rockhounding
Authors: Daniel E. Coe
Pages: 63–6 - 63–6
Abstract: When does location information on an interactive web map become too detailed and identifiable' In this case study, I discuss the issues that arose when the Washington Geological Survey converted a decades-old printed rockhounding location map into multiple interactive, variable-scale web maps. These issues include topics relating to privacy, land management, rock-collecting laws, and the ethical responsibility of a state agency to consider the many different ways that such maps could be used.
PubDate: 2025-03-25
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1967
- Mapping COVID-19: Applying Ethical Strategies in Web Mapping Decisions
Authors: Aaron M. Adams, Adam Gallaher, Ashley Benitez Ou, Xiang Chen, Weidong Li, Chuanrong Zhang, Richard Mrozinski, Debarchana Ghosh
Pages: 67–7 - 67–7
Abstract: In December 2019, the world was introduced to a coronavirus, the likes of which have never been seen before, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. During the initial months of the pandemic, academics, government agencies, and concerned citizens, among others, raced to generate maps to help explain the geographic spread of the virus over space and time. Maps, however, can be intentionally or unintentionally misleading; we saw this play out during the pandemic as we rushed to make COVID-19 dashboards and online maps. While the Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 dashboard served as the first authoritative resource on the pandemic, it lacked the spatial granularity required for smaller states, such as Connecticut. Realizing this limitation, a team of geography Ph.D. students and faculty came together to develop a dashboard better suited to serve the residents of the state and aid policymakers during a time when each decision could have vast consequences. This case study reflects on our team’s strategies to address the ethical considerations to deliver high-quality maps and to promote healthy skepticism among users of the COVID-19 dashboard. We first provide a historical background of the discussion around ethics in cartography that we used to frame our arguments and strategies. Second, we summarize our deliverables, starting with an online interactive dashboard for 169 towns suitable for both mobile and desktop viewing. For the visualizations, we tried to balance the right amount of health information so that they were cartographically sound, easy to understand, and not misleading. As geographers, this is one of our responsibilities to our communities.
PubDate: 2025-03-25
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1971
- Better Than Good Enough for Government Work
Authors: Leo Dillon
Pages: 76–7 - 76–7
Abstract: Three episodes in the 34-year career of a cartographer at the US State Department illustrate how ethics can inform, or intrude on, mapping for foreign policy. While US federal government cartography is guided by international law, political disputes and how they are handled put the cartographer in a position to inform and possibly influence an ethical policy. Or not. This article will explore instances in which mapping ethics get discussed, tested, and resolved in a foreign policy environment.
PubDate: 2025-03-25
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1939
- Objectivity in Storytelling, Spatial Narratives, and Data Journalism
Authors: Thomas Pingel
Pages: 80–8 - 80–8
Abstract: A growing number of geographers, cartographers, and mapmakers are embracing visual storytelling, and integrating maps with diverse elements including text, images, graphs, and anecdotes to create rich and engaging spatial narratives (Caquard 2013; Caquard and Cartwright 2014; Denil 2016; Song et al. 2022). Roth (2021) summarized this movement and outlined four tenets of ethical visual storytelling: “show your work,” “show yourself,” “speak to power,” and “speak to each other.” These principles emphasize the importance of transparency about methodology and personal biases, while encouraging cartographers to engage critically with power structures and foster dialogue within their community. Buckley et al. (2022) observed a decline in public trust in news and other information sources, and in response authored “The Mapmaker’s Mantra” to emphasize the importance of ethical practices in mapmaking, part of a long history of such considerations in the discipline (e.g., McHaffie et al. 1990; Harley 1991; Kent 2017). The Mantra addresses maps broadly, with its guiding principles—”be honest and accurate,” “be transparent and accountable,” “minimize harm and seek to provide value,” and “be humble and courageous”—speaking to overarching ethical concerns in mapmaking. While both frameworks emphasize transparency and honesty, they diverge in their orientations, reflecting the distinct ethical priorities of mapmaking and storytelling. I’d like to further examine the ethical implications of an orientation toward story and narrative in the presentation of information, asking what this orientation entails, what it leaves behind, and what ethical dangers might be attached to a commitment to storytelling. Given the strong association between visual storytelling, spatial narratives, and data journalism, I will to a large extent connect my arguments to similar threads within journalism, where debates about narrative, objectivity, and ethical responsibility are central to the field.
PubDate: 2025-03-25
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1979
- Practical Geospatial Ethics: Concerns, Codes, and Cases
Authors: David DiBiase
Pages: 86–1 - 86–1
Abstract: This paper is one of a diverse set of contributions to a special issue of Cartographic Perspectives focused on cartographic ethics. Throughout it situates cartography within a broader geospatial context and discusses ethics in relation to professional practice in that field. First the paper considers the nature of ethical concerns expressed within the industry, government, and academic sectors of the geospatial enterprise, and speculates on how those concerns have evolved since CP first addressed ethics in the early 1990s. Second, it considers the roles of professional ethics codes and how relevant codes and rules relate to evolving ethical concerns. Thirdly, the paper highlights characteristics of ethics case studies, and the utility of formal case study analysis. It suggests how practitioners’ stories about ethical challenges can be adapted to “actionable” case studies that can be used to hone geospatial professionals’ and organizations’ ethical problem-solving abilities. The paper concludes with arguments that case studies may be key to elevating ethics within cartography and geospatial curricula in higher education, as well as in training large language model AIs to provide reasonable ethical advice to human mapmakers and users.
PubDate: 2025-03-25
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1935
- Elements of Trust in Maps
Authors: Nat Case, Timothy J. Prestby, Georg Gartner
Pages: 108– - 108–
PubDate: 2025-03-25
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1899
- Instructions to Authors
Authors: Author Instructions
Pages: 140– - 140–
PubDate: 2025-03-25
- Review of A Draught of the South Land: Mapping New Zealand from Tasman to
Cook
Authors: Brooks Groves
Pages: 126– - 126–
PubDate: 2024-12-10
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1959
- Review of Atlas of Yellowstone, Second Edition
Authors: Eric D. M. Johnson
Pages: 130– - 130–
PubDate: 2024-12-10
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1961
- Review of Designing Map Interfaces: Patterns for Building Effective Map
Apps
Authors: Alex Shreffler
Pages: 134– - 134–
PubDate: 2024-12-10
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1963
- Review of Mapping Beyond Measure: Art, Cartography, and the Space of
Global Modernity
Authors: Zach Thorpe
Pages: 136– - 136–
PubDate: 2024-12-10
DOI: 10.14714/CP105.1965
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