In an effort to make Dartmouth more welcoming to visitors, the College's newest map has taken on the tone of a tourist guide, displaying information about the school, a list of things to see and do, and an artistic rendition of the campus in three-dimensional perspective
The new map, an 18 inch by 24 inch fold-out booklet, will supplement the older version, an eight inch by 11 inch map with three folds, which features a traditional footprint image of the campus and contains basic information about the College and its parking regulations.
"If you go to Harvard, if you go to Cornell ... they have very expensive and beautiful maps," said Alex Huppe, director of the College News Service and the driving force behind the project.
"We should be welcoming people just as well as they do -- better in fact," he said.
The new map booklet, called the "Campus Guide," features slick graphics and the latest in computer-design technology.
The booklet contains more details about the College than the bare bones information provided on the older version. The guide unfolds in an orderly fashion, providing readers with different levels of information as they open it.
The guide contains information about activities, administration, admissions, College history and phone numbers in addition to small descriptive paragraphs about several points of interest, including the Hood Museum of Art, The Hanover Inn and Baker Library.
The guide also contains a list of 14 suggested things "to see and do at Dartmouth."
Huppe said he feels the new guide will "help Dartmouth shed some of its elitist image" and make it "a friendlier place to visit."
The map itself is also radically different. The two traditional footprint maps on the older version -- one for parking information and one for handicap entrances -- have been replaced by the large, hand drawn map, depicting the campus from an oblique perspective.
Parking regulations have been removed and the only information on handicap access is an indicator next to each building name. There is also a directory listing buildings by function to assist visitors in locating specific departments.
The map was created by Designwrights, Inc., a graphic design and advertising firm from Blue Hill, Maine. The firm was selected from among five that were asked to submit bids, with the final price for the initial design and printing of 23,000 maps in the range of $15,000 to $18,000, Huppe said, adding that most of the price came from first-time design costs.
Most of the funding came from the News Service budget, and the rest from the budgets of interested departments, such as Admissions and Human Resources, Huppe said. The College contributed no new funds to the map project, he said.
Roberta Greany of Designwrights said Ann Poole, the illustrator, created the map from aerial photographs, ground pictures of selected buildings and existing campus maps. She said it was "a pleasure [to work with] a campus with such a beautiful setting."
Hood Museum Director Timothy Rub, whose department contributed about $1,500 to the venture, said the map gave the museum an opportunity to describe itself and presented "a friendly face toward the person outside of Dartmouth."
Although it has only been available for a short time, Huppe said he has received notes praising the map from Chairman of the Board of Trustees John Rosenwald, Dean of the College Lee Pelton and many alumni.
The Admissions Office is distributing the guide with its tours and it is available from most offices that bring visitors to the College on a regular basis.
Despite the excitement over the new guide, the old map will still remain the official map of the College, available for those who want more specific information on parking and handicap accessibility.
