Prior to 2010, the Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, hosted a poster competition among undergraduate and graduate students for GIS Day. In 2010, maps and photographs are added to include additional ways of representing geographic phenomena, and the competition is expanded to combine GIS Day with Geography Awareness Week. To assist in judging the entries, guidelines for evaluating maps, photographs, and posters were prepared by Barry Wellar, Professor Emeritus, University of Ottawa, and Past Chair, Geography Awareness Week, Canadian Association of Geographers. Initial responses to the guidelines by judges, faculty, and students suggest that the guidelines are very effective as a means to efficiently and fairly evaluate large numbers of geography-related exhibits in a short span of time, and are also useful as design frameworks and checklists for course outlines, research projects, publications, and term assignments.

1. Geography Awareness Week 2010
and GIS Day 2010 Competitions
Department of Geography
University of Ottawa
Guidelines for Evaluating Geography Awareness Week Maps
Proper Use of Cartographic Elements: scale bar, north arrow, title, legend,
projection information, etc.
Use of Visual Resources: shape, hue, orientation, value, size, texture, etc.
Overall Cartographic Design: strategies of symbolization for points, lines and
polygons; typography and lettering; foreground‐background (figure‐ground)
relationships; highlighting the map theme (the purpose must be clear)
Guidelines for Evaluating Geography Awareness Week
Photographs
Likelihood of being published in Canadian Geographic magazine: would
discerning CG viewers ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ about the geography depicted?
Calendar Quality: would photo likely appear in a calendar of geography?
Words Worth: how many words is the picture worth?
Guidelines for Evaluating GIS Day Posters
Visualization Aspect: Use of maps, images, colours, layout, and other eye‐
oriented means to illustrate problem statement, analysis, and synthesis
(results).
Qualitative Aspect: Use of text to clearly, concisely, and coherently discuss
the problem statement, the relationship(s) under consideration, and the
visuals and numerics used in the analysis and synthesis.
Quantitative Aspect: Use of numerics to represent the geomatics underlying
the spatial situation, analysis, and synthesis portrayed by the poster.
Methodological Aspect: Methods and techniques used in analysis and
synthesis, including regard for literature search and referencing procedures,
cartographic principles, and the fundamentals of scientific inquiry.
Geo‐Factor Aspect: Extent, degree, and robustness to which the geography of
the problem statement is explicitly stated, and then elaborated visually,
qualitatively, numerically, and methodologically.
Judging Panel
Dr. Barry Wellar,
Principal, Wellar
Consulting, Chair
Mr. Sam Herold, Senior Analyst,
Geospatial Technologies, Canadian
Institute for Health Information
Mr. Gordon Plunkett, Director,
Spatial Data Infrastructure, ESRI
Canada