Here is my campus map and my CSV Spreadsheet!
My Progress and Decision Making
The process of making this map was a little tricky to start off with. Since I have never used this site before, I found that because there are so many options, I got lost trying to find the functions I wanted to do. Yet, once I made my polygons and imported my spreadsheet of values, it became a lot easier to customize and sort the data. At first, I wanted the footsteps of the buildings to be a color so that it could stand out against the base map. However, once I started sorting my data, I realized that I could assign different colors to each point depending on their function, so I changed the base color of the buildings to white so the function colors could stand out. These colors were indicated by circles that grew in size depending on the number of times I visit each building weekly. This left me with a map that can not only showcase where I am going the most, but for what reason. Originally, the default function of these bubbles varied in opacity depending on how often I went there, but I found the varied opacities distracting so I decided to make them all the same. I think this allows a clearer depiction of what the map and data are saying about my habits on campus.
Potential of Web Mapping
After making my own map I think there is a lot of potential in using web mapping techniques like this. Since I only did 5 buildings, I did not map out all of the buildings I go to, but it would be interesting to create a similar map that could compare how often I go to the different dining halls or to show which area on campus I use the most for studying. The ability to colorize each section based on its use holds great benefit in being able to display a clear understanding of where someone travels most and why. After I finished my map, I think these types of maps have a lot of potential to create interactive campus maps, city mappings of businesses, etc.
Capabilities of ArcGIS
I think there are a lot of capabilities of ArcGIS. I personally don’t feel like I was able to explore every aspect of the program because there were so many, and I love how easy it is to import your own data and customize its display. There are also a lot of base layer options so you are not stuck with the same default, which I feel can impact how the map displays information. In general, I feel like ArcGIS is a great online platform with how many options it provides, and while there may be more expansive options in downloadable programs, I think ArcGIS is an amazing option for beginners.
3 thoughts on “Week 6 Lab – Making a Campus Map”
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Hi Mya! I love how your map turned out! I think changing the opacities so they were the same was the right call, since the varying sizes already convey the same message. I agree that it would be interesting to create another interactive map that included even more campus buildings, or possibly the specific routes that students take. Finally, I agree that ArcGIS is great for beginners. There was a little bit of a learning curve, I won’t lie, but in general, I think it was easy to understand how to create a web map after a bit of practice.
I like your use of different colors to symbolize the function of a building, and I also really like how you chose to depict frequency only by the size of the circle. Varying transparency makes it really difficult to differentiate between buildings that have very similar frequency with any color other than black. I also agree that ArcGIS has a lot of potential that’s a bit difficult to learn at first but has an immense arsenal of features and tools. Well done!
Hey Mya, I think your map turned out really good! I like how you assigned different colors to each point to represent their function, I didn’t think about doing that! Your map is also super easy to interpret, making the markers transparent really helps the clarity and makes it easy to see the polygons. Great work overall!