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At Dromoz,
we value the substance of information more than its form. That is to say,
as long as a contributed content is useful, its presentation is only a
secondary concern.
It's worth remembering that
materials on Dromoz are used by real people. Hence, any content you
submit for inclusion should be clear, concise and easy to understand.
- When writing about a place, use ordinary everyday language. You can
use English or Bahasa Melayu. The most important consideration is to
avoid misunderstanding, especially when you are giving directions to
a place.
- Whenever possible, you should provide a map to show the location of,
or the route to a place. If you need to sketch a rough map by hand,
do not worry about its appearance. As long as people can understand
it, you have succeeded.
- A picture is worth a thousand words. If you have a photograph of a
place, please include it to make identification of the place easier
for others. Just remember to add a description of the photo.
Keep in mind that whether it's words, photographs,
or maps; the objective is merely to get your message across. At its core,
Dromoz is just a means of communication between people. And like
any communication, keeping it simple is always good!
| Not Right Or Wrong ... But Useful Or Not |
Consider this simple case
of navigating in a fictional town. The task is to find the way from a known
place, named `Place A' ; to an unknown place, named
`Place B'. What are the different mediums of presenting
this information? One solution is to use a commercially-published road map.
A typical road map of this fictional town is shown in Frame 2
below.
Another method
is to draw a road map by hand, as shown in Frame 1
below. This hand-drawn map is simple yet explains all the pertinent points
quickly and clearly. In the map, only the relevant route is displayed;
all other roads are dropped. This creates focus. There are other differences
too. The roads are straightened (simpler geometry is easier to digest)
and their distances are changed (to fit the `landmarks'). It also depicts
an advertisement billboard, of which any traveller will definitely take
note, but something which Frame 2 deems not significant
enough for inclusion.
Since Frame
1 is very different from Frame 2, is Frame
1 wrong? Is it inaccurate? Is Frame 2 the
correct one, then? The truth is, no maps are totally accurate; no maps
can be absolutely right. Maps are nothing more than representations of
reality. As such, a map embodies the particular point-of-view and the
context for which it is intended. Frame 2 is more
accurate in terms of positioning, but it's still far from being comprehensive.
For instance, it omits elevation data and it can't include all man-made
features. It made some choices on what to include, and then presented
that information in an objective manner.
By contrast,
the hand-drawn map of Frame 1 definitely lacks positional
accuracy. However, its choices of what to include and how to present that
information, is based on a subjective point-of-view. It is a mental
map, an image of the route in a person's mind, built upon experience and
digested knowledge. Frame 1 corresponds to what a
traveller would experience along the route, from a human perspective.
Therefore, it is more useful in this respect. Frame
1 is not the wrong one. Frame 2 is not
the right one either. They merely use different approaches to solve the
same problem.
| 3. |
Corner view of Place B. The colorful
building facade makes it easy to recognise. The road at
the front is Jalan Satu. |
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4. |
| From Place
A, go along Jalan Merah (in the direction
away from town center) until you come to a roundabout.
At Bulatan Emas, take the 3 o'clock exit onto Jalan
Satu. Go along Jalan Satu until you reach the
traffic lights. After the intersection, you will see Place
B on your left. |
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Road map is
not the only possible type of solution. Directions to Place B
can also be given in words, as shown in Frame 4 above.
Like the hand-drawn map of Frame 1, a written description
is also subjective in nature. For example, the description in Frame
4 offers yet another slightly different, but still simple approach.
In fact, the route from Place A to Place
B can be described, and drawn, in numerous ways. All of them
equally valid.
Finally, providing
a photograph of the destination, as in Frame 3 above,
can help the identification of an unknown place. This medium is not a
full solution to the problem because it does not provide navigational
information. Nevertheless, it does provide locational information, especially
when there is an accompanying caption.
Subjective map,
objective map, photo, words - they are all different mediums of presenting
information about places. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Each
can only be as accurate as its own context allows. Certainly, none is
more 'right' than the other. Actually, it's not about right or wrong at
all. At the end of the day, what really matters is how useful they are.
The materials
on Dromoz will most likely be of the Frames 1, 3 &
4 varieties. We regard these subjective approaches as more
interesting and no less useful, than an objective approach (such as Frame
2). Objective is detached, cold, impersonal, precise and final.
Subjective is intimate, warm, personal, flexible and invites discussion.
If we have to choose between the two, Dromoz aims for useful subjectivity.
And in this particular aspect, we humans do it better! Try it now — draw map / sketch in Sandbox!
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