Map transparency and trustworthiness

Abstract

Over recent years the easier access to mapmaking technologies and the presence of social media for distributing digital maps has led to an increased focus of cartographic research in the topic of map trustworthiness.This thesis tries to examine how trustworthiness of maps can be secured and improved, by giving the map readers information about mapmaking decisions and data sources. For that purpose, an online survey with three different thematic maps has been conducted, to find out how trustworthiness of maps is affected by giving this additional information.The results of the survey show that the trustworthiness in maps is significantly increased when providing users with additional information about mapmaking decisions and data sources. Furthermore, the results of the survey give way to a range of subtopics that should be investigated in more detailed studies.