Lars Brodersen has written a book that describes what geocomunucation means and what it involves. In his view, geocommunication is much different than cartography alone. In this paper, we will set out some of the results and findings. We have attempted to identify a number of trends and to indicate what their significance may be for us as forestry specialists. We have had valuable input from a number of Dutch colleagues who also attended the congress. This book has particular value to geodata and geospatial information users today due to the fact that it supports integrative knowledge and the convergence of thought and technology toward better spatial understanding.
Geo-Communication and Information Design
(Translated from Danish by Nick Wrigley)
by
Lars Brodersen
Forlaget Tankegang a·s
617 pages; 2008
ISBN: 87-984113-5
EAN 9788798411369
Review by Jeff Thurston
The author quotes Søren Kierkegaard in “Synspunktet for min Forfatter- Virksomhed”. “If you wish truly to succeed in leading someone to a particular destination, you must first make sure that you find him where he is, and start there.” On that note Lars Brodersen begins a journey of discovery within this six hundred and seventeen page book on the topic of cartography and communication. A geocommunication specialist, he teaches on these topics at the Aalborg University in Denmark.
The book begins the first chapter entitled ‘Requirements for reading’ wherein Brodersen immediately draws the reader into understanding the nature of location and communication. The point is made that location alone is only part of the broader communication path and that culture, logistics and even health and terrain all contribute to a much wider communication experience – encapsulating location. He does not shy away from simply stating, “maps are the distribution channel par excellence for distributing information.” So the next time someone says geographic information system to you, keep in mind what the information aspect.
Cartography is expressed in terms of accessibility, but ‘great accessibility’ is mentioned, and what that constitutes. The clarity of the message and trueness matters. Compare the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour versus the same statue in Las Vegas. Same statue, but a different message reaches the viewer when looking at – the image of this comparison is picture perfect.
As one reads this book the author is constantly providing a running dialogue and asking questions, causing the reader to think and interpret location as a dynamic of process and understanding. Brodersen points out that cartography has not, yet, made the shift to become geo-communication on terms that he is describing within this book. To achieve that, a wider appreciation and connection of location and geography to engineering, sciences and other disciplines would be needed.
The author questions whether or not cartographic products are produced by technology alone, and he suggests that more attention needs to be given to the users. Maps must be created for communication and the end-user. A graphic aptly describes the situation where technology has been moving toward higher levels of system integration with less focus on graphics. At the same time, a significant amount of activity has focused on registration and positioning.
However, the interest in producing better content has waned and become less important. In short, he asks, are we producing higher quality data that is being processed efficiently, but not necessarily more effectively? So – why don’t we see more graphics research in the area of location based services? The author makes a good point.
The book includes a large number of maps and diagrams that are particularly useful and important for helping the reader to understand the context and messages the author is describing. They support the text well and are unique due to their communication oriented subjects. The concept of a hypothesis is discussed and placed in the context of abstraction. As the discussion proceeds, questions arise as to the connection between geo-communication and the humanities. Clearly the human element takes front stage as Brodersen attempts to explain both how people communicate and the underlying complexity of the process as it relates to location association.
My interpretation is that he is attempting to convery what geo-communication could mean, and that description goes well beyond location to become ingrained in the processes of daily life. In Part One the book begins on the problem field and the idea of – firstness. The case of the Swedish Youth Hostel is presented. Using a website page, Brodersen indicates all the pieces of information that are present from location of roads to opening hours to directions of travel and so on. These collectively then lend the necessary pieces of information to allow a decision to be made immediately, they instill confidence.
A second example discusses the Danish Underground Cable Owners who depend upon using map related information to perform utility related tasks and otherwise management large networks of information. The book shines in drawing the reader into a understanding that encompasses implicit knowledge as compared to craftsmanship and personal participation when creating cartographic products. The point is made that when key personnel are lost, then the value of the products decreases. As Brodersen states, “The advent of new technology in the subject has meant two things: the range of product types has changed, and the expertise needed has changed.”
Three models are presented for defining geocommunication. These are “the provisional transmission model, the model of states and the rhetoric model. These three models and the agreement principle form a basis for a theory for geocommunication with appurtenant models (a transmission model and a geo- communication model), describing on a general level a systematic and controlled approach to a decision about content.”
Readers will find that the author attempts to describe models for communication of geo knowledge along several lines of thinking and approaches. Several diagrams support this analysis. He also speaks about agreement as a basis for success, where the level of agreement from the sender of a geocommunication message to the reciever is an important aspect for gauging that success. “Cartography is an expressive discipline which creates maps. Geo- communication complies with or seeks to comply with the philosophical conditions…”
As the book proceeds to describe the conditions under which geocommunication arises, both technological and conceptual, the author explains the definition – “The concept geo-information can now be defined as a relevant number of messages linked to a place with which a user is confronted and from which a user derives a meaning. Messages can be letters, written words, legends on a map, entire maps, spoken words, other sounds, other types of signal and combinations of such things; information is a package of selected messages. Confrontation takes place based on a question asked by a user of an information source (a producer or web service, for instance).”
At this point readers will want to begin assessing how they interpret geocommunication today, since, in many instances, the use of other forms of information by geocommunication personnel does not often venture far from geodata or a mapping software. Part Three is about concretisation or secondness. The reader will begin to realise about midway through the book that the author is attempting to tie the individual chapters together by explaining their linkages to each other as he writes. This has the effect of helping the readers to keep the big picture in mind, but at the same time it can become overwhelming to keep all of the information in mind at any given time because of the large amount of topics covered, explanations given and work described. It is almost as if the writer knows this and through this form of writing is trying to keep the reader engaged – by communication. Would we expect anything less from a communication specialist?
In a later chapter the discussion surrounds common sense and the attempt to understand what really goes on in people’s minds. “For instance, a project dealing with transferring an entire map-registration system to a new and better database system which happens to be the first project to use a new database program, could be called ‘The miraculous database project’. There would then be a serious risk that this project would attract all kinds of minor tasks that might in principle benefit from the miraculous database software, but which have nothing at all to do with the purpose of the project in question.”
Brodersen illustrates two maps from South America asking, “Two maps presenting information about commercial geography in South America. The world of reality is the same for both maps, and yet they look very different. What are the intentions behind these two very different presentations of the same reality?” He then describes the process that led up to their creation and how those who created the maps may have been thinking. The reader will find this constant dialogue that the author provides as being informative because he outlines it clearly and each reader can grasp the message in a fundamental way to begin using the same procedures and lines of thinking in their own map making.
He talks about model of interaction, values of consciousness, domain modelling and information needed for answers. Readers will find these and other topics interesting as the purpose and goals of communication are more or less becoming clearer near the end of the book. As he turns toweard negotiability, a term used to explain the level of uncertainty, a model using different classes of beer is outlined. This is where Brodersen succeeds in great ways. He takes complex academic thought and translates it into everyday issues that ordinary folks can understand and use. Not all scientists are as adept at this transformation and have similar capability. But would we expect anything less from a communication specialist, once again? He does not let us down.
The last chapters of this book delve into points, line and areas as the author attempts to explain communication through the technology, particularly geographic information systems (GIS). We learn about value charts for tourists and he indicates “Once a user has sensed and experienced information and started to decide and perhaps act, it is too late for the producer to try and improve the quality of use because the communication has been completed – the producer has lost his chance!” Action is finality. Brodersen wonders how we can control the geocommunication events and processes to final outcome.
In summary, this book should be required reading for students and staff involved in cartographic communication and information communication using graphics and location. Make no mistake, it is written at a academic level, but the author tailors the book to layman language and examples that are common and identifiable in most people’s daily living. He has the unique gift of being an educator and geocommunication specialist at the same time and uses it well. By the time readers have completed this book their minds will be full of ideas about how to communicate better. But even more importantly, they will ask themselves, “what have I been doing all this time, when I could have been doing this, that and the other thing to become more effective” as Lars Brodersen has written about,
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The book’s homepage: www.geokommunikation.dk
