Napjaink térképszerkesztőjének dilemmája

A dilemma of map-makers today: is the knowledge of geoinformatics, geomatics and geomodelling enough for being a cartographer, or is cartosemiotic knowledge also needed for (geo)visualuzation? The system of cartographic symbols is an information system related to space, to the representation of the surface of the Earth by symbols and letters. This cartographic information results in communication process only when the cartographer chooses the map scale, projection, content and representation method so that the reader can interpret the map without doubt. To achieve this, the map-maker has to know the requirements of the map-user and the map-reader’s repertory of semiotics. Semiotics as the study of symbols is near the discipline of information theory, which deals with all systems that are able to process, preserve and transfer information as well as to use information for direction and regulation. Information theory studies the dynamic and quantitative aspects of communication, while semiotics deals with the static and qualitative aspects: this is the basis of their relationship. The former one examines information processes, while the latter examines information systems in which the processes are realized. In this respect, the relationship between semiotics and information theory is like the relationship between the alphabet and the writing and reading of the letters of the alphabet.