Mapping, take II

[Geoff Hart <Geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Ben Kovitz  followed up on my attempted definition of
mapping:

<<Just a little nitpick here>>

Speaking as an editor--and you can quote me--nits are worth
picking, because if you leave them alone, they grow up into
lice.

<<a geographical map doesn't represent the relationship
between the two-dimensional image and the three-
dimensional world, it *is* the two-dimensional image.>>

The map is, as you say, the two-dimensional representation of
the relationship, and the relationship is the means you use to
get from the images on paper to figuring out how to actually
reach your destination.

<<And a super-nitpick: a mapping isn't the representation of
the relationship, it *is* the relationship.>>

What he said!

<<If anyone knows any tips on documenting that kind of
old-data-to-new-data mapping, please post!  I did that last
month and was less than happy with what I came up with.>>

Best I can suggest is something like a table of
correspondences (e.g., column A labeled "what I said" and
column B labeled "what Geoff really meant to say, as
expressed more clearly by Ben"). Can you provide specific
examples? Strikes me as interesting fodder for techwr-l!

--Geoff Hart @8^{)}     Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"Though the editor is the author's ally, she should never forget that
she is also the reader's first line of defense."--Shoshanna Green


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