Reference Maps

Reference maps show the lay of the land, such as the geographic context surrounding your research location or area of interest.

Reference maps can be as simple as a drop pin location, or more complex with data layers, labelling, and insets.

Insets, which are maps nested within maps, either zoom-in to show a particular area in greater detail or zoom-out to contextualize the area of interest within broader geographical context.

Reference maps, like any map, should have at minimum an explanatory title, north arrow, scale, legend, map author and data source statement. If there are only one or two data layers which are intuitively symbolized and clearly marked, a legend is sometimes unnecessary.

Other reference maps include road atlases, pocket atlases, or transport specific maps such as the below cycling map of Vancouver. The reference map most often used in your everyday is Google Maps.

These examples are of course all static reference maps. To view examples of dynamic (web-based and interactive) reference maps as well as thematic maps, please see our Spatial Stories workshop.