British Orienteering About

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.

Rules and Appendices - specifically Appendix H: Mapping
Event Guidelines

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.

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 and
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.

Map Registration Form Word format PDF format . Paper copies can be obtained from the National Office or club mapping representatives

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.

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.

Ocad

Ocad 9 is available from the Ocad website.

OCAD Symbol Files

OCAD symbol files can be downloaded here.

All symbol sets are available in both OCAD8 and OCAD9 format. The downloaded files should be saved to the relevant OCAD Symbol folder to be accessible from File... New within OCAD – typically C:\Program Files\OCAD9\Symbol for OCAD9.

ISOM 2000 symbol set updates for Ocad

The British Orienteering ISOM 2000 symbols have been included as a 1:10000 set as well as the standard 1:15000 set. 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.

ISSOM 2007 symbol set for OCAD

OCAD symbols for sprint maps drawn to the ISSOM 2007 specification - symbols sets are available with the scale already set to 1:5000 and 1:4000.

Course setting symbol set update for OCAD

British Orienteering course setting symbols have been produced with a revised Purple colour and a revision to the overprint text (18pt Bold).

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.

Mapping and Ordnance Survey

The charge for using maps based on Ordnance Survey material is covered by British Orienteering provided the map is registered and the license number is included on the map. Clubs do not have to cover map usage although if extracts of maps are to be placed on websites (see below) these costs will NOT be covered by British Orienteering; clubs will be expected to fund these themselves. Maps are also required to be registered for insurance purposes.

OS Maps on Websites

A deal has been negotiated for maps based on Ordnance Survey material to be used on web site however there are some restrictions.

Crown Copyright - Internet Letter of Permission for 2002.

This letter confirms that club members of British Orienteering can display Ordnance Survey based material on their web sites subject to the following terms and conditions:

Maps can only be displayed during the existence of this agreement
Payment by British Orienteering of a royalty fee will be paid by British Orienteering for the stated period
Map extracts displayed must be 100sq cms at scale or smaller
Map extracts displayed must be in raster form
Each club website displaying mapping must include the following acknowledgement once on their site:
"This website contains mapping data licensed from Ordnance Survey with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationary Office (c) Crown Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. License Number PU 43423U"
Each individual map extract must display the following acknowledgement:
"(c) Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. PU 4342U. British Orienteering Map Registration No:-."
This agreement will be reviewed at the end of each year

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.

Cartographic Software

Ocad – Popular cartographic software, developed by Hans Stienegger, for producing Orienteering and other kinds of maps. Contact at email
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.

International Orienteering Federation

Website for the International Orienteering Federation Map Commission.

Groups and Organisations

British Cartographic Society – The British Cartographic Society, promoting the art and science of mapmaking in the UK.
Orienteering Australia Mapping Website – Mapping website for Orienteering Australia.
Yahoo O-Map Orienteering Mapping Discussion Group – Discussion group on Yahoo for Orienteering mapping.

Calculators

Magnetic Variation Calculators

A website with a magnetic variation calculator – You first need the Longitude and Latitude of your area. The Ordnance Survey Interactive Atlas on CD will give you this, and has appeared on numerous computer magazine cover disks in the past, or there are some other links below.
NOAA online calculator
Individual online calculator and download utility

Converting Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference to Longitude and Latitude – A website explaining the Ordnance Survey National Grid system, and hosting software to convert between OS National Grid and Longitude/Latitude.

OCAD AND GPS Websites regarding using GPS with Ocad

UK Online Mapping and Aerial Photography

Printing of Maps

Printing Orienteering Maps with a 4-Colour (CMYK) printing process – A useful guide by Pat Dunlavey of the United States.
Houston Orienteering Club OCAD Print Colours – Sample colour files and a guide to colour printing of OCAD files on desktop inkjet printers.

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.

Mapping Schools

Below are links to documents and OCAD symbol sets for mapping school.

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.

Map Awards

The principal awards are the Chichester Trophy for the best map by an amateur, the Silva Trophy for the best professional map and the Bonnington Trophy for services to orienteering mapping. There are also awards for cartographic excellence and for first maps and maps of small areas. There will be a new trophy for the best sprint map produced in the previous year.

Maps will be considered that have been returned to the British Orienteering National Office with form MR2. They should be part of the print run used for the event and can include course overprints. Submissions for the Bonnington Trophy should come with full details of the claim.

For further information please email Colin Spears

Map Awards 2007

Bonnington Trophy - For services to mapping

Peter Jones - Peter has been heavily involved in orienteering map survey for 30 years and has lately moved on to cartography. He now takes responsibility for the whole map process.

Silva Professional Trophy - For the best cartography by a professional mapper.

Jon Musgrave - Camerory

Sprint/City Map Trophy - For the best Sprint/City Map

Neil Northrop - Scarborough Bay

Highly commended:Warwick Castle and Town by Mike Hampton

Commended for a map of a local (smaller) area

Alan Heppenstall - ULPHA PARK

Don Moir - LOUNT

Brian Hughes - WYCHE RIDGE

Tony Thornley - CHEVIN

Alison Sloman - ARROW VALLEY PARK

Certificate for a first map

John Kewley/ Pete Owens - Daresbury Firs and Laboratory

Alan Williams - Tamworth Castle and Grounds

In 2007, The Chichester Trophy was not awarded.

Support

The following information and resources may be of use to you:

Newsletters

Mappers

Mappers are responsible for:

Rules, Appendices and Guidelines