Abundance of Austen

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=115754350583819625043.0004926e9974a5712fc14

The link above shows a map of England with notable places from the life and times of Jane Austen. Any self-acclaimed Janeite dreams of touring the Lake District, visiting the infamous region of Lyme, and seeing the splendor of Bath. She (or he) might even throw a temper tantrum worthy of Lydia to get her (or his) way- cue "But I want to go to Brighton!!!"
I have created a map to aid any Janeites in their tour of England. In blue, I have included several locations related to Jane Austen, such as her birthplace. Many places mentioned in her novels are fictional (sadly, Pemberly is included on the fictional list- you'll have to try elsewhere to find your Mr. Darcy). However, you can actually visit some locations from the novels. I tagged several of them in purple. Enjoy!

NEOGEOGRAPHY

Neogeography means "new geography." It is a form of map making in which people can "do it themselves." Some of the pitfalls of neogeography are that you don't always know whether the map is correct. There is no way to check a cartographer's sources. Using my map above as an example, an average non-Austen reader and Google user who stumbles across my map would not be able to tell if I actually included places relating to Jane Austen or simply made up the back stories about each location. (In case you were wondering, I did not make them up. All credit goes to Jane.) Also, if someone were to actually plan a vacation using my map, how would they know that I actually put Box Hill's marker on Box Hill? I could be trying to advertise for a restaurant and a traveler could wind up at a local bakery, or something more sinister. A pitfall of neogeography is not knowing if you can trust the creator of the map.
On the other hand, neogeography has boundless potential. People in highly specialized areas (such as fans of Jane Austen) can create maps that are relevant to them very easily without having to pay some company or the government to do it for them. You can send directions to your house via email to your study group so they don't have to consult an atlas. It makes navigating the world much easier. A consequence of neogeography is including more people. When you had to have official paper maps, it was difficult to deal with geography. Now, theoretically, even a child could go onto Google maps and figure out how to walk to school. It eliminates some of the reliance we have on government bodies to create up to date maps, as we can now do that ourselves. However it also creates a question as to how we are going to regulate new maps and whether that is even possible.