Hi, I am an high school student taking lessons in Earth Science. As part of my study I have an assignment to interview a cartographer and learn more about mapping. I would appreciate if someone can provide me with relevant answers to the questions below. Thank you in advance for helping me with my assignment.

Questions:

As a cartographer

1. Where or how do you get the data to create/build maps?
2. How do you validate if the data is correct and if it matches with the real world physical layout?
3. Are there set methods or practices that you use to create maps, if you do could you describe them?
4. How has modern world technology helped or improved the work of cartographers?
5. What map qualities do you consider to be essential for a map to be viable and useful?

Thank you.