Editorial
From Physical to Digital
For years our members enjoyed
Institute news, edited by Greg Herron in a series of great colour publications
on paper, styled 'Mapping Sciences Newsletter'. Council has moved with
the times to issue the news online, and I have produced emails to members with
contributions from Keith Smith, Bill Cartwright, and Adam Ladhams. A number of
these took the form of a blog, which seemed to offer advantages, not least a
'hit count' which showed that the site was attracting visits in satisfactory
numbers. The masthead for these was 'MSI-Connected!',
with a covering email to members.
Hard copy of these has been posted to the ever-decreasing number of members
without email addresses.
Most recently, under the title 'Mapping
Sciences Newsletter', I tried the direct route to our members emailboxes,
rather than invoke the Internet. This issue reverts to its original title, with
the same intention – to bring members MSIA news in an informal format. In this
issue, we recognize the elevation to Honorary Fellow of two distinguished
members of the Institute, and report the change in chairmanship of the Bathurst
Group. The 'BIGF' – Brisbane International Geospatial Forum – is nearly upon
us, and there is a reminder here to visit the website for final information –
and of course, registration.
As always, we want the communication
to be a two-way channel, and would welcome contributed articles or letters to
the Editor.
Our Top Academics Honoured
Our
congratulations to two of Australia's foremost academics in the geospatial field,
members of MSIA and leaders in its affairs, who have been awarded the highest
grade of membership in the Institute, that of Honorary Fellow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Countdown
to BIG Forum
Adam
Ladhams represents MSIA on the Organizing Committee, and the information
already available is evidence of the excellent work being done in this shared
endeavour. Brisbane in midwinter? – not to be missed. Please check out the
website, and join the excitement on 9-10 July.
Details
at –
See Virtual Brisbane at BIGF
Within the MSIA map display at the
Forum, we hope to offer a movie presentation of the Virtual Brisbane map
system. The map has been produced by Brisbane City Council's Urban Modeller,
Infrastructure Coordination and Urban Design, City Planning and Sustainability
Division. It is cartography at its best, allowing infinite variety of views and
display options. See it online at –
Brisbane in Flood
By a
happy coincidence, another brilliant map display is available at the Forum –
and it's within the State Library of Queensland just round the
corridor from the BIGF auditorium! The exhibition called 'Floodlines'
depicts in word and images the drama of Brisbane's floods, especially the
natural disasters of the summer of 2010-11.
The website is informative – http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/whats-on/events/floodlines/exhibitions/memory#app
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bathurst Group Sees Change
In
the words of 'The Banjo' ... 'There was movement at the station,
for the word had passed around ...'. And not least of the movements
gathering pace in Institute affairs at the moment is the change in Chairmanship
of the Bathurst Group.
Tony
Baker provided leadership to the Bathurst Group over eight very active and
productive years. He is moving on to a new job, and Doug Herrick has stepped up
to take his place. We welcome Doug to his new responsibilities, and offer our
best wishes to Tony.
Through
NSW President Col Mitford I obtained from Doug some details of his professional
background. Doug writes ...
I
originally joined MSIA about 10 years ago, mainly for the technical information
contained in the MSIA journals. Until now I haven't had much involvement
with it. I have always enjoyed the Carto newsletter as it gives me a
broad range of mapping information.
I
became interested in a career in cartography/photogrammetry because of my
ongoing fascination with hardcopy aerial photographs, paper maps and
mathematics. Without knowing very much about the field I enrolled in a
Bachelor of Spatial Information Systems at Charles Sturt University, which I
completed in 2002.
While
at Uni, I was lucky enough to get an LPI scholarship (Land and Property
Information) which included a year's work. This was when LPI was
starting to plan for the retirement of a number of employees.
From
2003 until now I've done the following at LPI:
*
Processed cadastre updates - updating the Digital Cadastral Database from
survey plans (including the occasional plan in feet/inches and chains/links).
*
Processed frame-based aerial photography. I can still remember getting up
from the computer at the end of each day and seeing red crosses in front of my
eyes - caused by looking at an endless number of magnified airphoto fiducials.
*
Updated topographic maps for the Digital Topographic Database.
*
Working on the Single Land Cadastre project for several years. This
project was set up to integrate Sydney Water's cadastre with LPI's cadastre.
I was involved in formulating and testing different methods of doing the
processing. It was on this project where I first met up with Tony Baker
* LPI
bought an ADS40 airborne digital sensor to replace their existing frame-based
camera in 2007. I was part of the team that implemented this change;
working out the processing methods and the software required to process the new
imagery. The recent upgrade to an ADS80 sensor will further improve our
processing.
* I
hope to pursue a management role at LPI in the near future.
As
you can see, I have been very fortunate to be involved in the implementation of
new technologies in both hardware and software.
Doug
Doug
Herrick - Senior Spatial Technician, Imagery Applications
Land
and Property Information
Our
congratulations and thanks to both Tony and Doug. And best wishes to Col, on
the mend after falling ill on his European holiday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Treasurer reports changes to
Corporations Law
Following
the change in June 2010 in audit requirements for a
'Small Company Limited by Guarantee', the Institute books are audited
by an accountant rather than a Company Registered auditor, at a considerable
saving of money. Wilson Accountants have been engaged to review the
financial statement and prepare the appropriate financial report as required.
This change was detailed by Treasurer John McCormack at the 2012 Annual General
Meeting held in Brisbane on Saturday 26 May.
Councillors
Also
at the AGM the secretary advised that Council for 2012 –
2013 comprises: Les Isdale (retiring 2012), David Fraser, Alan
Armitage, Keith Smith, John McCormack, Adam Ladhams, Alan Unkles, Colin
Mitford, Graeme Wright, Michael Turner, Pat Killoran, Trisha Moriarty and
Trevor Menzies.
The
departure of Greg Herron and Bill Cartwright, and the addition of Trisha as an
'invited Councillor' have already been noted. We wish them all well in their
changed responsibilities.
New Roles for ICA past-President
Bill Cartwright is now chairing
the Joint Board of Geospatial Information Societies, until August this year. This
role also includes his contributions to the United Nations Experts Committee on
Global Geospatial Management. Bill as Immediate Past-President of
the International
Cartographic Association will continue for the next four years to contribute to
the work of ICA, and holds the Professorial Chair of the School of
Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences, RMIT University. He is assured of our
good wishes as he works through all these agencies to promote the cause and
quality of cartography world wide.
Website revamped
Discussion of the MSIA website with a colleague, Dale Rodgie, led to his consulting with John McCormack and David Fraser to redesign the site, which now offers an attractive source of up-to-date information about the Institute. This has been a long and difficult process managed by John, and David's work as Webmaster finally achieves the professional image online that we needed. See it at www.mappingsciences.org.au.
MSIA Archive to be documented
Within
the Heritage Program, there has long been a concern to secure the essential
documents of MSIA history in an authoritative and accessible form. Trevor
Menzies has compiled a draft table of these materials as a basis of an
Institute archive, covering minutes, journals, conference papers, newsletters
and National Reports, which includes description and location of each.
History of the Institute updated
The
history of the Institute from 1988 to the present has been written for the
Heritage Program by Keith Smith, and provides a welcome complement to the
official history 'Mapmakers of Australia' by John McCarthy
covering the origins of the Institute in the 1950's to 1988. Entitled 'Cartography
in Retreat', Keith's account provides a summary of events that
impacted on the AIC and MSIA from 1988 to 2012.
Council to meet in Brisbane
The
Institute Council will meet at the State Library of Queensland in Brisbane on
Sunday 8 July. The meeting will receive my report as President, the financial
report from Treasurer John McCormack, and a report from Adam on the 'BIGF'
conference to commence the following day. The new President will be elected at
the Council Meeting.
From
Trevor Menzies we will have the final report of the MSIA 2011 conference in
Canberra which celebrated 100 Years of Topographic Mapping. Reports
from Program Managers will follow, defining in detail the activities through
which Council has provided services to members.
Retiring President's Report
Approaching
the end of my tenure as President, my report to the AGM dealt with a
number of activities, including Newsletters, eCARTO magazine and the JoSS
journal; Relationships with kindred societies; The Brisbane
conference; The revamped website; and the Recorded history of
AIC/MSIA 1988 to 2012.
I
believe we are very fortunate in our technical publications, especially in our
'flagship' publication Journal of Spatial Sciences under
Editor-in-Chief Prof. Graeme Wright; and in the monthly window on world
cartography published online by Dr. David Fraser in eCarto.
After
a short evolution as a blog, my email Newsletter aimed at
bringing news of Institute activities to members. Both of these online
publications invite input by members about local MSIA matters, but in 'a time
without time' that is proving difficult.
I am
pleased with the positive responses to my contacts with 'sister' organizations
through their Presidents, and in some cases as guest columnist in their
publications. The most dramatic exercise in good relations is the upcoming
'BIGF' – the Brisbane International Geospatial Forum' – in which MSIA, IMTA and
ANZMapS are co-operating to bring a wider professional horizon to all those
whose business is maps.
The Future
In the midst of change in the mapping
environment, from traditional cartography to geo-information services, it would
be easy – and quite mistaken – to suppose that an institute which grew out of
the topographic mapping of Australia, and the transformation of technology
post-WW11, is doomed to irrelevance. Maps are in use like never before, and in
forms never before seen, as cartographers embrace the new mapping
environment.
We face the obvious challenge of keeping pace
with technology. That's the price we pay, if the unique contribution we can
make from our understanding of graphic design is to help shape the ways in
which geographic information is manipulated and presented. For this reason
education opportunities being offered under the Research and Scholarship
Program are so important. At the same time, mapping is becoming a popular
activity through readily available software, and in the movement styled 'Open
Street Mapping', where communities join in mapping a locality and its social
dimensions. We have seen excellent work from the Orienteering groups, and print
and electronic media bristle with ever more sophisticated maps – because the
map is such a universal language.
Our history does not assure us of a leading
place in all this action, but the spirit of those sixty years in pursuit of
cartographic excellence is key to our leadership role in the future of
mapping. eCarto continually reminds us of the possibilities of
our profession. It only remains for us to take the personal decisions which
secure our individual position, and by supporting MSIA, ensures the health and
strength of your Institute.
Les Isdale
National President, MSIA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment