Monday, June 16, 2008

Citizen journalism meets cartography -- a map reporter is born Whose job is it to fix the world? While plotting routes to our new Radford University School of Communication home at 702-704 Fairfax St. with Google Maps, I've noticed a common local mapping error that tells visitors to turn down either of two wrong streets to get to us. Google shows Fairfax as a through street from one side of campus to the other; it isn't. The center third has been blocked for years with a clock tower and pedestrian area. It also shows "Adams Street" as a through street intersecting Fairfax, but that's not true either. Most of Adams is now a pedestrian mall, although some buildings still carry addresses like "307 Adams St.," the Criminal Justice department. View Larger Map What's a poor navigator to do? Well, I've just noticed that if you follow links from Google Maps to the Navteq company, you can become a "Navteq Map Reporter" and offer corrections in its worldwide mapping database. I wonder how many  Radford visitors have been frustrated by maps that don't keep pace with campus construction at Radford University, where two major cross-streets no longer cross in the center of campus... Perhaps someone has submitted official documents on the university's behalf, but I decided that one more voice can't hurt. I just offered this note to Navteq, along with a copy of the university's already out-of-date map. Radford University several years ago absorbed most of Adams Street, blocking it with new construction, more of which is in progress. Adams is no longer a through-street from Tyler to East Main.  Jefferson Street is now the campus border, and the intersection of Tyler and Jefferson allows turns in all directions. Adams Street buildings still exist (e.g. 307 Adams St.), but the street is now a pedestrian mall from Waldron to Hurlburt Halls on the attached map, and a new art center is being built between East Main and Hurlburt. The center of Fairfax Street is also blocked between Dalton and Heth Halls, so it is no longer a through street from East Main to Jefferson. According to Navteq, I am now a "Map Reporter," and have been sent the following response to my change: NAVTEQ releases navigation data up to four times a year to a wide range of navigation system manufacturers and vendors. Because of the time required to process the data, there is a lag between making an addition to the database and seeing that change reflected in a navigation system. Updated maps are offered for sale by your system manufacturer. We make every effort to ensure that our map data is fresh, accurate, and up-to-date by employing full-time staff in more than 130 offices around the world. We appreciate conscientious drivers such as yourself who take the time to tell us that we might need to make a change. 9:51:04 AM    comment []

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