THE DATA,THE READER,AND THE INNOCENT BYSTANDER—A PARABLE FOR MAP USERS*

In 1977, I published a set of coarse-resolution dot maps that showed the general distributions of soil orders in the 48 states. Through a sequence of copies made by various people, one of those maps eventually appeared in a planning document as a shaded-area map with the title “Principal Peatlands of the United States.” Along the way a saline desert muck of conjectural extent and location was “transformed” into a documented energy resource for the nation. The history of this map offers a clear lesson for mapmakers: we have a three-fold duty, to the data, to the map reader, and to any third party who might be affected by a foreseeable misinterpretation of our maps.