Issues in Computer Cartography

Geography 411 Dr. Brandon Plewe
MWF 9:00-9:50am 672B SWKT, 2-4161, plewe@byu.edu
660/640 SWKT  Office Hours: MWF 1:00-2:00pm

Objective:

This semester's 411 is going to be a bit out of the ordinary.  Generally, I select a cartographic technology or technique to focus on, but this year you seem to be interested in three areas, so I'm going to let you pick (within limits).  There will be two options:

You will have some opportunity at the beginning to do a little of both, then decide.

What has not changed is that this is a practicum course.  That means that you will have a single, large project to complete by the end of the semester, and that there will be little to no lecture.  You will need to learn the necessary software on your own, just like in the real world. My primary job is to help you learn and do (which is not at all like the real world :-) ).  During this course, you can learn a variety of technologies which will be invaluable to your future career, including:
You will also have ample opportunities to further refine the design skills you gained in 312. To succeed in this class, you *must* be self-motivated to learn, not just to do the minimum work to get a grade; if you are, you will be well-rewarded at the end (and not just with a grade). Learning together is encouraged; also, I will do some training when necessary to give a jump start (esp. early in the semester). I will also be willing to give feedback on your work at any time, so you will get the best possible result.

This course is closely tied to the learning objectives for the GIS emphasis, especially the 6th (cartography) and 7th (programming).  You should review these objectives, so you can see the point of what I'm trying to do.

Assignments:

Because there are no lectures, there is not a strict schedule.  You should come to class every day, because I will sometimes teach something that everyone needs to learn to move on.  You will need to complete the following assignments along the way (i.e. they will be graded), and I've given a general guideline of when you should finish them.
  1. BYU Campus Building (due Jan 26). This will give everyone an intro to both areas.  Create a BYU campus building in Sketchup and show it (and everyone else's) in a Google Earth web page.  
After this, you can choose in which area you want to focus, as well as the details of the project you want to work on.  The remainder of the assignments are stepping stones of the single major project.