Searching Through Silos

Abstract

As participatory mapping evolves encompassing new technologies and incorporating new terminology to describe varying approaches, it is important to examine whether all practitioners of participatory mapping belong to the same community of practice guided by shared principles. The researchers explore the narrative of participatory mapping as a coherent, unified discipline. They do this by assessing the landscape of the literature on participatory mapping practices across two scholarly search platforms – Google Scholar and Web of Science. In each platform, they searched the same terms that are commonly associated with participatory mapping. The researchers' findings suggest participatory mapping lacks coherence as a unified method. They note a lack of overlap in top cited publications, indicating that what counts as legitimate knowledge regarding participatory mapping and its practice differs depending on the platform. Implications for participatory mapping theory and practice are discussed.