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Demographic And Economic Patterns In The Upper Midwest: A Study In Maps

Project Future
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute
University of Minnesota

Foreword

In 1983 I had the opportunity to manage what was then Minnesota's largest machine readable data center: The Minnesota Analysis and Planning System, or MAPS. As member of the State Data Center network, MAPS was a depository library for information from a number of state and federal sources, with its primary collection being from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Like all State Data Centers, MAPS' mission was to provide public access to the wealth of information collected by various government agencies. However, accomplishing that mission was made difficult by the technology of the times which relied on main frame computing of data stored on magnetic tape. The programming and machine costs associated with this technology were simply prohibitive for all but the largest data users.

The inability of MAPS to provide access to these data resources for the citizens of the state was especially problematic for the Minnesota Extension Service. Not only was the cost of retrieving the information too high for most of Extension's clients, but the volumes of numbers contained in the MAPS library were, for the majority of people, incomprehensible, intimidating, or boring.

As a partial solution to this dilemma, I began to present regional demographic and economic information to communities around the state, based on data from the MAPS library. In designing these programs, it quickly became apparent that pages of numbers, formulae and reports were not seen as particularly informative by most audiences. Maps, on the other hand, conveyed information quickly, allowing people to draw their own conclusions about the association between various economic and demographic characteristics by locating them geographically. The intuitive appeal of maps actually made thinking about statistics fun for a large number of people.

Despite its acronym, MAPS did not have access to the technology to draw geographic representations of its data base. In fact, computer mapping in general was rare in 1983. So the maps I relied on were drawn by hand on transparencies, carried from meeting to meeting, and guarded at all times. I was often asked for copies of these maps, and was never able to provide them.

In 1993, things are very different. Huge data bases from the Census and other sources are available on CD-ROM for use with personal computers. Mapping software is available from several sources, as are on-line services from both government and private vendors. What we could not do with Minnesota's largest data library in 1983 can now be accomplished with ease from a desk top, and I am pleased to be able to make these materials available.

Randy Cantrell
Project Future Coordinator

R e t u r n

Produced by Communication and Educational Technology Services, University of Minnesota Extension.

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