Mappers - Support
Responsibilities
Rules, Appendicies and Guidelines
Mappers List
Map Registration Scheme
Mapping Awards
Insurance
Ocad
Ordnance Survey
Map Database
Cartographic Software
IOF
Calculators
Ocad and GPS
Online Mapping
Printing Maps
Useful Software
Links for Mappers
Mapping Schools
Support
Mappers are responsible for:
- Selecting a suitable area for an event in conjunction with the event organiser
- Obtaining permission to use the area or ensuring the organiser has permission
- Registering the map with British Orienteering
- Preparing a base map
- Selecting the map scale that is appropriate to the event
- Surveying the area
- Drafting the map and getting it checked/assessed
- Liaising with the planner of the event
- Discussing the printing of the map with the organiser and planner of the event
- Ensuring that the quality of the final map meets the required standards
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Rules, Appendices and Guidelines
All events registered with British Orienteering are governed by a set of Rules, and their associated Appendices.
Different types of events are regulated by a set of guidelines, each specific to a type of event, which give competitors and event officials information about what should be expected from particular types of events.
The latest versions of the Rules, the Appendices to those Rules and the Event Guidelines along with valuable information for mappers can be found by following the links detailed below.
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Map Group Mappers List
To join the British Orienteering Mapper’s electronic mailing list please email Map Group making the subject "MAPPER". Give your British Orienteering membership number, name, address, club, and telephone number.
Your details will be entered on the address list automatically. Please also give the version of Ocad you are using.
If you do not wish to join the electronic mailing list then you can still receive postal mails by sending the same information to the National Office. Please be assured that this list will only be used to send you material from Map Group and will not be passed to any other body.
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Map Registration Scheme
About the British Orienteering Map Registration System
Since 1998 British Orienteering has operated a Map Registration scheme. Map registration is not compulsory, but maps not registered with British Orienteering are not covered by the OS licence agreement, and the volunteer mapper is not protected by British Orienteering insurance. All orienteering maps produced by British Orienteering members should be registered with British Orienteering.
The purpose of this scheme is to:
- Create new standards in orienteering mapping and to encourage members to produce maps to current standards
- Control use of and payment for Copyright Material used in producing Orienteering maps, such as Ordnance Survey material
- Provide peer review and feedback to mappers helping them to improve their skills and techniques
- Help provide the competitor with a clearly produced and easily readable map
- Collects mapping statistics in support of Sports Council funding
- Monitor quality through the Map Assessment Scheme provides statistics on maps
- Provide British Orienteering Public Liability Insurance Cover to volunteer club mappers who are members and third parties whilst they are surveying
All UK maps, including school maps and permanent course maps, produced for British Orienteering clubs or members should be registered with British Orienteering. Registration is a quick and painless process involving completing the Map Registration Form MR1, and submitting it to the National Office BEFORE any surveying takes place.
Revised map registration forms have been saved as a Word protected form. Tab through fields to enter registration details. Completed forms should be sent to the National Office.
On receipt at the National Office the information is entered on the British Orienteering Mapping Data Base. A Map Registration number is generated. This shows the Association as a two letter code the year as two numbers and a three digit number. This number should be printed on all maps based on this version.
From the information on the MR1 a number of forms, MR2, SA1, SA2 and SA3 are generated automatically.
MR2
This contains the Map Registration Number plus other details supplied on the MR1 such as name of area and grid reference. These can be changed but the National Office should be made aware.
Form MR2 needs completing and is then returned to the National Office when the map is printed. Information is entered onto the British Orienteering Mapping Data Base. From it British Orienteering is able to generate data for Sports Council or other grant giving bodies. With Form MR2 you are asked to supply 5 maps (at the smallest scale i.e. 1:15000).
In the event of a mapping project being cancelled then Clubs are asked to inform the National Office. If the date of the event for which the map is being prepared is changed then the National Office should be informed.
Map Assessment and SA1, SA2 and SA3
The production of a modern orienteering map is a highly skilled process often requiring subtle terrain interpretation and advanced cartography.
British Orienteering Map Group operates a map assessment scheme to assist in the production of high quality maps, and to offer advice and encouragement to all mappers, irrespective of status, so that they may produce well-surveyed and neatly-drawn maps to recognised standards. The Map Assessment will particularly look at use of correct sizes symbols for the scale of map.
All maps are examined and assessed. It is during this process that the best maps are selected for British Orienteering's annual mapping awards. Experience shows that development and maintenance of the necessary skills is best served by constructive dialogue between mapper and map users. The mapping self-assessment is part of that dialogue.
As part of the Map Assessment scheme mappers are asked to voluntarily complete a number of Self Assessment forms. These forms are generated with as much information as possible from the MR1 and the British Orienteering data base.
In completing these forms the mapper will save the Map Assessors time so that they can concentrate on other errors perhaps not noticed or missed. In many case mappers already recognise that they have made errors in survey and cartography. They are asked to mark them on a map.
This again will help the Map Assessment Panel concentrate on other aspects of the map. The system is designed to draw attention to faults and errors that will detract from the final maps presentation. This process is intended to be helpful.
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Mapping Awards
To encourage the production of high quality maps the Map Group, on behalf of the Federation, awards a number of trophies to encourage high standards of mapping and related activities.
Chichester Trophy
The Chichester Trophy was donated by the Honorary President of the British Orienteering Federation in 1971, Sir Francis Chichester. The Trophy consists of the binnacle compass used on Sir Francis' 'round the world' yacht, Gipsy Moth V, mounted on a wooden plinth.
The Trophy was first awarded in 1971 to Robin Harvey and Sue Bone for their map of Leith Hill. It was originally awarded for the Best Map produced in a single year, though later it was awarded for multiple maps or contribution to mapping.
In 1985, with the introduction of the 'Bonington Trophy', the 'Chichester Trophy' reverted to the original concept of the best map produced by an amateur mapper.
Silva Trophy for Professional Maps
With the high standard of professionally surveyed and drawn orienteering maps being produced in Britain, the British Orienteering Map Group decided, in 1992, that a new trophy should be awarded in recognition of these mapping companies. The Map Group annually awards the 'Silva Trophy' to the best professionally produced map.
This trophy, sponsored by Silva U.K.Ltd. is made from Stourbridge crystal. This irregular shape, called cullet in the trade, is formed when the unused crystal cools. The base was made by Mike Baggott of Harlequins from English elm and the solid silver plate was purchased from a bullion supplier in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and engraved nearby.
Bonington Trophy
This trophy was donated to the British Orienteering Federation by its honorary President, Sir Chris Bonington, the world famous mountaineer.
The trophy consists a piece of rock collected from the summit of Mount Everest on Chris' 1985 expedition, mounted on a wooden plinth. It is awarded annually for the 'best contribution to mapping' which can cover a whole range of activities related to mapping.
Walsh Trophy
This trophy was made by Mike Baggott of HOC.
The trophy is made of old walnut with a triangular cross section and an etched plate with an image of Canary Wharf, London. It is awarded annually to the best urban or sprint map drawn to ISSOM specification
Further information and a list of past winners of the mapping awards is available.
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Insurance
The British Orienteering Insurance Policy is for Public Liability Insurance; it provides cover against claims for damages, negligence, etc. Such claims are relatively rare, but can be expensive. All mappers are advised to have this protection, and landowners are likely to require it.
The British Orienteering policy does not cover accidents, personal injuries or personal property unless these involve a claim for damages, negligence or the like. If you want to insure your property against loss, theft or damage, or insure yourself against accident or medical costs, you must make your own arrangements; your household insurance may provide this cover.
British Orienteering Public Liability Insurance Cover applies to the mapping activities of all mappers, provided they are a member of British Orienteering and earn less than £6,000 from their mapping activities. Professional mappers earning more than £6,000 will need their own liability insurance.
The Cover requires for the mapper to register the map before beginning the survey. Preliminary investigation, e.g. to decide whether an area is worth mapping, is covered, but cover after surveying begins requires registration.
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Ocad
Ocad 9 is available from the Ocad website.
ISOM 2000 symbol set updates for Ocad
The British Orienteering ISOM 2000 standard Ocad files have been updated to version 3b and can be downloaded from this page. A number of minor corrections have been made to the dimensions.
You will notice that we now have included a 1:10000 set as well as the standard 1:15000. This should avoid the confusion that some mappers have had in the past when producing 1:10000 maps for Club events. Any map at 1:10000 should use this set.
There are 2 versions; those for OCAD 7 can be converted to OCAD 8 and take advantage of the additional facilities in OCAD 7 and 8. Thanks to Tony Pennick WCOC and Bruce Bryant for their helping producing these files.
Ocad Helpline
British Orienteering Map Group have set up an Ocad Help Line. This is organised initially by Bruce Bryant of Octavian Droobers who can be contacted by email. If he is unable to answer your question then he will refer it to others in Map Group.
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Mapping and Ordnance Survey
This year a new contract with the Ordnance Survey (OS) has been imposed on British Orienteering and there are several immediate consequences resulting.
Firstly, they are claiming their copyright on virtually all orienteering maps. Obviously maps drawn directly from OS material are included but also other maps based on photogrametric plots (set up using spot heights) and even those with national grid references are covered under the heading “derived data”. This means that all these maps should include the statement “Based on the Ordnance Survey Mapping with the permission of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. © Crown Copyright licence No. 100015287.”
The size limit of maps that clubs may include on their website must not be greater than 200 sq. cms of paper at the original scale. The image on the internet cannot be capable of being edited or customised in any way, neither must it disclose any addressable co-ordinates. There is also an annual reproduction charge for each image displayed of £4.75 payable to Ordnance Survey through British Orienteeing.
The map extract should include the wording “© Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. 100015287. BOF Map Registration No …” and the website should state “This website contains mapping data licenced from the Ordnance Survey with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Licence Number 100015287”
Maps used with Routegadget are covered as they are sent to the Routegadget website and as they are accessed from there they are covered by the Routegadget OS licence.
Some clubs wish to include maps of permanent courses for downloading. These maps are provided and often funded by local authorities. The option given to British Orienteering is that this is not covered by their agreement and clubs would be required to take out their own licence for each map at considerable expense. A preferable alternative would be for the maps to be placed on the local authority website under their licence agreement with links provided from the controlling club site.
For school maps produced by members of British Orienteering, it is recommended that they register the maps using an MR1 form. This will provide the mapper with insurance for public liability during the survey. However, if the map is not to be used for a British Orienteering registered event, the OS copyright agreement for the map should be provided by the local authority as it will not be covered by the British Orienteering contract. Back to top
British Orienteering Map Database
A searchable database of maps registered with British Orienteering for the whole of the UK can be viewed on-line here.
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Cartographic Software
- Ocad – Popular cartographic software, developed by Hans Stienegger, for producing Orienteering and other kinds of maps.
- Picover, Ocad Tools, and Boxscan – A set of utilities written by Don Scarrot and Tony Pennick designed to interface with Ocad providing many useful functions including generation of pictorial descriptions and overprints for course planning, contour tracing, and other Ocad options. Contact at email or email
- Condes – Course planning program and map over-printing software.
- PEGAS-O – Course/route displaying software, free to download and use.
Olivier Rihoux's Description: after an event, trace your route on a map image file (Start - Controls - Finish - Intermediate dots) and Save. You will get an *.html file showing your progression. You can include your split times (from Emit or SportIdent) so that your course will be displayed in "real time". You can even merge 2 or 3 files to see competitors running together and compare their respective course options. The program has been used during several World events to display the winner's route choices. With version 7, it’s now possible to get the Start/Finish/Controls extracted directly from Ocad (using a small utility from Don Scarrott). Hardware requirements: PC; software requirements: Windows 95, 98 or NT 3.51 or higher; price: freeware.
- MapStudio – Website offering symbols and resources for drawing Orienteering maps in Adobe Illustrator on either Macintosh or Windows platforms.
The symbols on the website available for download have been compressed using the Stuffit program, popular on the Macintosh. Macintosh and Windows versions of this program can be downloaded separately from Stuffit.com
- Macromedia Freehand – Illustration software that is used commercially for cartography and mapping.
- Adobe Illustrator – Illustration software that is used commercially for cartography and mapping.
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International Orienteering Federation
- Website for the International Orienteering Federation Map Commission.
Groups and Organisations
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Calculators
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OCAD AND GPS Websites regarding using GPS with Ocad
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UK Online Mapping and Aerial Photography
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Printing of Maps
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Other Useful Software for Mappers
- Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader – Adobe Acrobat Reader will allow you to view and print the PDF files that can be downloaded from this website. The Acrobat Reader is available for various operating systems including Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Unix, Solaris, and both Windows CE and Palm PDAs.
- OpenOffice – A free Office suite program comprising word processor, spreadsheet, drawing and presentation programs that are compatible with Microsoft Office file formats. You can use it to view and print the Microsoft Word format documents that can be downloaded from this website if you have not got access to Microsoft Office. OpenOffice is available for various operating systems including Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Unix and Solaris.
- WinZip – Software for extracting files from ZIP archives, compatible with the ZIP files that can be downloaded from this website.
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Mapping Schools
Below are links to documents and OCAD symbol sets for mapping school.
OCAD is a mapping programme, an older version is available free to download at: http://www.ocad.com/en/downloads.htm you will also need a ‘Symbol Set’ for school mapping for the version you download, these are available below:
The symbols sets, once downloaded, should be copied to the relevant OCAD Symbols folder - typically C:\Program Files\OCADx\Symbols where x is the version of OCAD installed. They should then be available to use in OCAD when opening with file "New" command.
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Support
The following information and resources may be of use to you:
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