Scottish Local Councils – General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas (19 Sep 2019)

Scottish Local Councils – General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas (19 Sep 2019)

The geographies of Scotland’s 32 Local Council Areas dominate public life – whether that be through the planning, funding & delivery of public services to local communities, or local democratic oversight & accountability – so knowledge mapping them was one of the first priorites of the ScotlandTheMap project.

This ‘national local’ knowledge map ‘visually connects’ general & geographic knowledge resources about ALL of Scotland’s 32 Local Councils for the very first time ever in a single, information rich, intuitive to navigate, easy to share, digital document. With thumbnail location maps, embedded contextual ‘facts & figures’ such as geographic area and population, 100’s of hyperlinks to official / definitive / ‘plain old useful’ knowledge resources (all available in the public domain but scattered in different places around the web), as well as a variety of attached index markers that tag them with some of the contextual knowledge and enable dynamic filtering to hide / show map content as well as aid internal navigation, this map will help you to discover what you need to know about them.

This map also establishes a comprehensive & robust visual knowledge framework upon which we can build many other maps about the ‘national local’ building blocks of Scotland based on Local Council Areas in the future.

Our Scottish Local councils – General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas is the ideal starting point for ‘thumb & brain friendly’ desktop (or even ‘in the field’) research for anyone with an interest in any, or all, of Scotland’s 32 Local Councils. It is made up of a visual framework of…

32 Scottish Local Council general knowledge seed branches – with unique identifying codes, embedded logo & thumbnail location map image and contextual general ‘facts & figures such as geographic area and population as single data fields, as well as attached multiple hyperlinks to core general & geographic knowledge resources, and index markers that also tag them with some of the contextual knowledge.

Each of these seed branches also has collections of sub-branches, each with a single hyperlink to official / definitive / plain old useful General or Geographic knowledge resources about the Council found in the public domian…

General Knowledge Resource Link Collection – This includes the local council’s website home, A-Z of services and councillors pages, profiles by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the National Records of Scotland and the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, and Wikipedia Articles on the council and geographic area administered by the council.

Geographic Knowledge Resource Link Collection – This includes the local council’s website mapping pages (if they have them), their entry in the Gazetteer for Scotland, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland Council Area Overview Map, the various current & historical online map viewers from the National Library of Scotland, global online mapping services like Google Maps & Open Street Map, and the Wikipedia List of articles about places in the Council Area.

Together these elements establish a comprehensive & robust visual knowledge framework upon which we can build many other maps about the ‘national local’ building blocks of Scotland based on Local Council Areas in the future.

MindManager Users – As with all our maps, the MindManager (.mmap) version of this map is also both a base map to add your own content to, or a source of content that can be added to your own existing maps.

Explore the other tabs for comprehensive descriptions of the knowledge seed branches and knowledge link collections that make up this knowledge atlas map….

Part of the 'Governance & Politics' Category

Read more about it on our blog

Map Facts

Here are some of the ‘fun facts’ 😉 about Scotland’s 32 Local Councils that we have discovered (and embedded!) during the process of creating this map…

Geographic Area

Smallest & Largest

0
sq km

Clackmannanshire Council

0
sq km

Highland Council

Population (2018 Est)

Smallest & Largest

0
people

Orkney Islands Council

0
people

Glasgow City Council

Population Density

Smallest & Largest

0
people per sq km

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

0
people per sq km

Glasgow City Council

Borders With Neighbouring Local Councils

With respect to land & sea

All Coastal Borders

(ie. 'Islands')

0
Council Areas

Land & Coastal Borders

(ie. 'Mixed')

0
Council Areas

All Land Borders

(ie. 'Land-Locked')

0
Council Areas

Map Features

We take full advantage of MindManager’s many unique ‘information cartography’ features when creating our unique maps so we can pack in 1000’s of ‘bits’ of knowledge into a single, visually structured, intuitive to navigate document that can be easily shared. Here are the main features of this Scottish Local Councils General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas (19 Sep 2019)

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Big Map With 100's Of Branches & Links And Capacity For Plenty More

With 1,458 knowledge resource links over 1,167 branches, this map is a useful, contextual knowledge resource in it’s own right, as well as being a visually structured index of the best definitive / official / plain old useful knowledge resources available in the public domain about Scotland’s 32 Local Councils. Thanks to MindManager’s unique capabilities it has plenty of spare capacity for further content to be added in the future, or re-purposed as a basis for other maps.

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Main Branches Create Robust Visual Framework For 'Seed Branches'

The 1st level branches form the main (‘org-tree’) visual framework within which the map content of interest sits. It is a simple ‘A – Z’ layout, with the 32 Scottish Local Councils arranged alphabetically in 5 columns of approximately equal sizes to pack as much in to a ‘single screen view’ as possible.

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Visually Rich 'Knowledge Seed' Branch For Every Scottish Local Council

The 2nd level branches are ‘knowledge seed points’ for each Scottish Local Council, to which links to public domain knowledge resources about them are attached. Visually rich & information dense, they contain the name & official area identifier codes in variably formatted (‘rich’) text – a unique MindManager featue. Visually the combined logo & thumbnail location map image aids user navigation and provides spatial context, whilst the variation in topic shape indicates the status of the borders with neighbouring councils – all coastlal (ie. island), mixed or all land (ie. landlocked). The full list of visual knowledge embedded within this seed topic is given in the map summary above.

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Embedded Data Elements Provide Additional Contextual Knowledge

Data features embedded within seed branches – like spreadsheets, charts & data fields (another unique MindManager feature) – provide another ‘channel’ of knowlegde that adds context to the more detailed knowledge contained in the public domain resources linked to in the map. Just like in a normal spreadsheet, some of the data field values may be ‘auto-calculated’ from the others using formulae, creating data not found elsewhere in the public domain. They can also be used to ‘conditionally format’ the map eg. colouring the branches based on a particular data value (the equivelant of ‘thematic mapping’ in GIS). The full list of data embedded within this seed topic is given in the map summary above.

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Attached Multiple Hyperlinks To Public Domain Knowledge Resources

Seed Branches have multiple hyperlinks attached to them (yet another unique feature of MindManager maps), which link to the best definitive / official / plain old useful knowledge resources available in the public domain about the subject. The ‘definable link text’ gives clarty as to the resource being linked to (which can be very variable if left to the default). As well as increasing the amount of knowledge that can be ‘squeezed’ into a map without increasing the ‘visual clutter’ of additional branches, it means these links can be retained if the seed branches are used in other maps, or this map is re-purposed. The full list of multiple knowledge resource hyperlinks attached to this seed topic is given in the map summary above.

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Index Marker Tag Groups Enable 'Geo Intelligent' & Other Map Filtering

Branches in the map may be tagged with one or more ‘index markers’ from one or more ‘marker groups’. These enable intelligent map filtering and quick navigation. Many of the tags are ‘geographic’ in nature such that branches are tagged with ‘where’ they are – eg. administrative or electoral areas. This gives the map in-built ‘spatial intelligence’ and the ability to be ‘geo-filtered’. (MindManager software users can copy and paste any of the marker groups in any other maps). The full list of index marker tags attached to this seed topic is given in the map summary above.

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Sub-Branch Collections Of Single Links To Public Domain Knowledge Resources

Attached to the ‘seed branches’ are sub-branches – each with a single hyperlink to official / definitive / at least practical & useful online knowledge resources about the Scottish Local Council – grouped into related collections, such as ‘general knowledge resources’, ‘geographic knowledge resources’ etc. These are starting points for knowledge discovery and subsequent more detailed (‘desktop’) research. (MindManager software users have the advantage of being able to add to these branches as they go). The full list of links in the sub-branch collections attached to this seed branch is given in the map summary above.

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Map Legend Branch Describes Each Topic 'Type' With Links To Further Information

Every map needs to have a legend that explains the cartographic structure, colours and symbology used. The ‘Map Legend’ branch describes the sub-components of each ‘type’ of map branch, with links to further knowledge resources where necessary.

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'Contributing Online Knowledge-bases Branch' With Links To Further Information

We hunt down and assess many official / definitive / at least practical & useful online knowledge resources in the process of creating our maps. The ‘Contributing Online Knowledge-bases’ branch has links to all the ones that are actually linked to in the main map content, as well as some others that are a good source of general knowledge about the subject. It is a frustrating fact of life that some resources are organised better than others, and not all are ‘linkable to’ at the individual ‘building block’ level and so can’t be included in seed branches.

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Built-in Topic Styles Enable Quick Visual Reformatting

The visual formatting of all the map elements is controlled via our structured system of topic styles, which makes for easier alteration ‘on the hoof’ and therefore quicker map building. (MindManager software users can change the appearance of the whole map with just a few clicks eg. to match their own ‘in-house’ style & branding.)

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Image_Copernicus_163x160
To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.
Nicolaus Copernicus
16th Century Mathematician & Astronomer
Rab-C-Nesbitt_300x300
Tae ken that we ken whit we ken, and tae ken that we dinnae ken whit we dinnae ken, that's whit it's aw aboot, ye ken?
Rab C. Nesbitt
Contemporary Scottish Philosopher
Rab-C-Nesbitt_300x300
And whilst we're aboot it, tae ken where the hell ye get haud of whit ye need to ken, when ye need to ken it, if ye dinnae ken it awready?
Rab C. Nesbitt
Contemporary Scottish Philosopher
Photo_Profile_Angus_McDonald_896x896
These knowledge maps show the 'national local' building blocks of Scotland as they exist today, but they can also be used to strategically think about what could be in the future, and operationally plan the delivery of what will be tomorrow.
Angus McDonald
Scotland The Map Project Director and Knowledge Mappers Founder & CEO
Image_Ralph-Waldo-Emerson_1920x1080
Do not only go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Philosopher and Transcendentalist
Image_Erwin-Schrodinger_440x440
The task is, not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.
Erwin Schrodinger
Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist & Cat Owner (Part-time)
Image_Gilbert-Hovey-Grosvenor_250x250
A map is the greatest of all epic poems. It's lines and colours show the realisation of great dreams.
Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor
'Father of Photo-Journalism' & 1st Full-Time Editor Of National Geographic Magazine

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