"For many of us, GPS has been a game changer - a tap, a voice, a turn-by-turn path, will get you there. But there is something special about a physical map that the GPS in your car or phone just can't provide. When laid out, a physical map can provide a greater sense of scale and place, hints at the allure of far-off lands, and a reminder that we're a small part of a big world with a complex history."
""What's interesting is they very much see a map as something that is empirically true because we're so used to satellite maps and Google Maps where the information is most likely true," she says. The library makes clear that many of the maps weren't accurate to begin with. "To understand that they're limited to the perspective of the map maker is kind of our first challenge when we're working with old maps.""
Physical maps offer a greater sense of scale, place, and historical context than GPS, revealing orientations and worldviews that digital maps conceal. Students at the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education handle modern and centuries-old maps and globes that often center Europe or predate mapping of the Americas, producing different perspectives. Educators demonstrate alternate orientations, such as flipping maps to place Australia at the top. Visitors often assume maps are empirically true because of satellite-based navigation, so instruction emphasizes that many historical maps were inaccurate and reflect the mapmaker's limited perspective. Maps and lessons are customized for each class, serving K–12 and university students.
Read at www.npr.org
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