Information Literacy Skills > Atlases and maps

Maps

At its simplest, a map is a graphical representation of an area of the earth. A map is normally printed or displayed with North at the top of the page. You can use maps in information tasks like the following:

• locating a particular city, town or village
• finding out which countries a river flows through
• working out directions to an address
• finding the distance between two places.

So a map of Scotland might show:

• the positions of the main cities: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness
• the locations of mountains
• the shapes of lochs.

There are many different types of map: -

• A physical map emphasises the physical features such as hills, rivers and lochs, using different colours to represent the different height of the land.
• A political map emphasises the boundaries between countries and regions, as well as showing capital cities and major centres of population. There is normally no detail about mountains and hills.
• A thematic map gives statistical or other information in connection with the land areas shown on the map eg population density, climate, natural resources or land use.
• A road map emphasises the motorways and main roads as well as likely destinations: cities, towns, airports, ferry terminals and leisure destinations.
• A detailed map (like those published by the Ordnance Survey) gives precise information on heights of the landscape and detail down to streets and individual buildings

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