CV-29 - Design and Aesthetics

Design and aesthetics are fundamental to cartographic practice. Developing students’ skills in design and aesthetics is a critical part of cartography education, yet design is also one of the most difficult part of the cartographic process. The cartographic design process of planning, creating, critiquing, and revising maps provides a method for making maps with intentional design decisions, utilizing an understanding of aesthetics to promote clarity and cohesion to attract the user and facilitate an emotional response. In this entry, cartographic design and the cartographic design process are reviewed, and the concepts of aesthetics, style, and taste are explained in the context of cartographic design.
DM-62 - Database Administration
Organizations with a responsibility for maintaining large-scale, multi-user spatial databases often turn to server-based relational database management systems to achieve their goals. The administration of such databases has many dimensions. Industry standards in the areas of data storage and services should be researched and applied to ensure a sound, comprehensive database design as well as to promote interoperability with external entities. Data validation tools should be implemented to improve the accuracy and efficiency of data maintenance activities. Metadata should be maintained according to industry standards to protect the organization’s investment in data and to increase the likelihood of the data being located by clearinghouse and portal search tools. Database security strategies can prevent unauthorized access to data and lessen the chances of data loss due to accidental data corruption. Database performance should be monitored and strategies implemented to ensure that data can be retrieved from the system with acceptable response times. Finally, trends in the field such as the increasing need to manage large volumes of data call for spatial database managers to be knowledgeable of non-relational data models as well, such as NoSQL data models.