Locations are natural ways of organising data with important relationships with or connections to other data. Road maps are the most obvious and common form of information organised by location; at the very least they graphically represent the geographical relationships between specific places, often they include much more information: population, topography, public services, tourist highlights etc.

Many information problems can be solved by presenting the information in the form of a map. Such maps do not have to bear a 'faithful' relation to the represented world: the famous map of the British Underground provides a good example of the benefits of graphically representing the pertinent information -- the order of the stations and their interconnection with other lines -- whilst ignoring information that is usually important -- the distance between stations, for example.

 

Consider a subway map that simply lists all station stops in sequence versus one that arranges them in a representation of the city they serve. This may sound obvious (and it should be), but why do not car manuals organize parts by their location in the car, or medical books by location in the body (the one thing you are sure of when you know you aren't feeling well)?
Nathan Shedroff