Wikipedia:Using maps and analogous media: Difference between revisions

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*Even maps produced using reliable sources (such as [[GIS]] data) can have minor errors as a result of errors in the underlying database, or the cartographer trying to overlay data from two non-linear sources. Minor map errors are common, for that reason any map detail that is key to the article should be confirmed with a separate map from a different publisher. Rarely are map errors notable, even if they have gone uncorrected for decades.

*Many cartographers intentionally introduce minor errors in inconspicuous locations as a form of [[copyright trap]]. Likewise, rarely are such introductions notable.

*It is not uncommon forMany companies that publish a yearly edition of a map, toand useinclude athe year foras anpart editionof numberthe thattitle is(e.g. a2009 yearRoad aheadAtlas). ofAs whenthese thehave mapto was actuallybe drafted. In suchin casesadvance, itoften istimes notthe uncommoncartagropher for cartographers towill draw projects under construction as completed, thator wereproposed stillprojects as under constructionconstruciton. orThis beingis proposedan wheneffort to increase the mapshelf waslife draftedof the map, so as anto effortnot tobe compensateobsolete forbefore the discrepancyyear inon the datesedition name has finished. (e.g. a highway expected to be completed by 2009 may be drawn as complete in the 2009 edition, even though it was still under construciton when the map was drafted) This can introduce another source of error in an otherwise reliable map, should a project be cancelled or significantly changed. Such errors can be detected by comparing multiple editions of the same map.

*Any cultural bias apparent in a map (such as a disputed boundary or a territory claimed by two entities) should be clearly explained in a neutral fashion.

*Editors who use maps should be aware that maps covering large areas almost always have one type of distortion or another, depending on the [[map projection]] used. Care should be taken to select a map whose projection is appropriate for the purpose to which it is being put.