Revised 05/2025

GIS 203 - Cartography for GIS (3 CR.)

Course Description

Focuses on the fundamental cartographic concepts used in planning, designing, and creating effective maps. Lecture 2 hours. Laboratory 2 hours. Total 4 hours per week.

General Course Purpose

This course is required as part of the GIS Career Studies Certificate program at Tidewater Community College. It is essential that GIS students/professionals know how to create maps from their GIS data collection.

Course Prerequisites/Corequisites

Prerequisite: GIS200 or instructor permission.

Course Objectives

Upon completing the course the student should be able to:

  • Identify and analyze map design considerations
  • Analyze data, scale, and dimensions to include in maps
  • Compile map information, including data, metadata, graphics, and text
  • Determine projection, orientation, spatial extent, and map scales for main, inset, and overview maps
  • Select and rank map elements
  • Create sketch maps of layouts
  • Prepare (project, generalize, resample, and recode) base, thematic, and ancillary data
  • Create a map template of base map by using source data, map layout, and placeholders
  • Determine feature hierarchy and symbology
  • Add thematic and ancillary data to base map
  • Symbolize map features
  • Determine and apply label hierarchy and fonts
  • Add map legend, text, and marginalia
  • Create qualitative and quantitative choropleth maps
  • Create dot density and proportional/graduated symbol maps
  • Create isopleth and/or isarithmic maps
  • Create multivariate, flow, and/or cartogram maps
  • Analyze graphs, map production, map series, and web mapping

Major Topics to Be Included

  • Reference vs. Thematic Maps
  • Map Design Considerations
  • Map Scales
  • Geographic vs. Cartographic Databases
  • Projections, Datums, and Coordinate Systems
  • Map Elements
  • Cartographic Design
  • Output File Formats
  • Symbolization
  • Color Basics
  • Relief Representation
  • Typography
  • Map Reproduction
  • Qualitative/Quantitative Data and Symbolization
  • Data Classification
  • Choropleth Mapping
  • Dot Density Mapping
  • Proportional/Graduated Symbol Mapping
  • Isopleth and Isarithmic Mapping
  • Multivariate, Flow, and Cartogram Mapping
  • Graphing
  • Map Production
  • Map Series
  • Web Mapping