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CADASTRAL PROBLEMS
CONCEPTUALISED AS
BREAKDOWNS IN COMMUNICATION
URL: http://www.spatialgovernance.com/spatial/boundaries/620-02.htm
© John S. Cook - Created on 12 July 2004
Last modified
05/04/11 11:01
Australian EST
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ENTROPY IN COMMUNICATION
PROCESSES |
Deterioration of
Information
The idea that information can deteriorate over time is as much a
truism as saying that living things will eventually die. Thus
people may forget things if they make no special efforts or have
no reason to remember them, paper records will deteriorate as
ink fades or paper disintegrates, electronic records may become
lost or corrupted through lack of use or misuse, survey marks
and monuments will deteriorate over time and the
understandings that people have about these marks and monuments
can also be forgotten.'Noise' signifies random interference introduced into communication
processes. This interference affects communication at technical and
semantic levels. A technical reason could be a spelling mistake
or signal distortion from static in radio transmission; a
semantic reason, misuse or misunderstanding of a word.
Communication Theory
In 1948, Claude E. Shannon published a seminal article entitled
'The mathematical theory of communication'. One of the most
important achievements of this theory was to show 'in a precise
sense that a given noise level could, in principle, be offset by
introducing a corresponding degree of redundancy, so as to
achieve practically error-free communication in sufficiently
long messages'. 1
In applying this principle to surveying
systems, a given rate of deterioration in survey marks or
records can be offset by the deliberate introduction of
redundancy into all surveying procedures - check measurements,
witness marks, duplicate records and the like. Much of this is
done unconsciously as a consequence of ordinary experience.
Arguably, a more systematic approach to how information can
break down leads to a more systematic approach in preserving the
integrity of surveying systems as reliable providers of
information. |
Entropy in
Surveying Systems
Surveying systems have a particular problem in needing to
exist for an indefinite duration. Moreover, surveying systems
rely on written records that supposedly refer to facts on the
ground at the time the records are made. Accordingly, much
depends on the accuracy and integrity of surveyors as recorders of
facts. The surveyor's role within a surveying system includes
communication of various facts through marks on the ground and
written records.
Surveying procedures usually incorporate redundancy as part of
normal communication processes because it is found to be
efficient in practice. This need for redundancy is often
overlooked in argument proposing to modify evidentiary
provisions relating to boundaries, such as in use of
coordinates. A number of
important points emerge from the fact that entropy is
unavoidable:
 | surveying
systems will break down as a means of communication without
redundancy in the symbolism that forms part of the
language of surveyors |
| the introduction of redundancy into a
surveying system gives rise to possibilities that
information as evidence will either be corroborative or
conflicting |
| where evidence tends to be corroborating,
people are likely to see the evidence as reliable - as in the
special case of statistical analysis with low levels of variance
and high levels of confidences |
| where evidence is contradictory, people may
differ about what information to accept |
Elements of chance enter into interpretations of
evidence and reflect in notions of legal proof - such as 'on the
balance of probabilities' (the standard of proof usually accepted
in civil cases); and 'beyond reasonable doubt (the standard
usually required in criminal trials. The legal maxim
falsa demonstratio non nocet - referred to in the
case and comment
on
Donaldson v Hemmant
(1901) 11 QLJ 35 - deals with a rationale for rejecting
inconsistent information in particular instances. |
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References:
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LEVELS OF
COMMUNICATION |
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Communication Analysis
All communication depends on symbols that have a shared
meaning within a particular language community. The symbols
attract attention through the human senses - the sounds of
syllables and spoken words; the sight of letters, numbers, words
and iconography; the feel of Braille, for example. All of these
symbols can suffer some form of 'noise' that tends to produce
entropy in communication processes.
In commenting on the wider
significance of Shannon's information theory, Weaver
commented that communication occurs at the following
three levels:
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Comment
Weaver provides a basis for analysing communi9cation systems in a
context of social and economic systems by refining what it means to
communicate efficiently and effectively. Thus, a telephone system
that is efficient in a technical sense can transmit meaningless nonsense
that is worthless for management or control purposes. Similarly, a
surveyor may perform a survey and record the information on a plan
of survey that is meaningful. However, the plan may be unsuitable
for a particular purpose or transaction.
Ultimately, a surveyor's effectiveness reflects firstly in allowing
property transactions to proceed. However, the The collective
effectiveness of cadastral surveyors in a region will reflect in
orderly land occupation with few incidences of misdescription of
land; few difficulties in identifying land or its boundaries; and
few problems of trespass or encroachment. |
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References:
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THE
TECHNICAL LEVEL |
Surveying Symbolism
The marks that surveyors place on the ground are analogous to
language symbols such as letters, words and numbers that convey a
message to those who understand the symbols and their meaning. The
loss of marks on the ground is analogous to erasures within a
written document.
Surveyors use various symbols to communicate knowledge about the
identity of lots and boundaries to lots. This symbolism
includes:
| marks placed on the ground that communicate
information to any person who can recognise the marks and
what they mean |
| written descriptions of land parcels
contained in plans of survey and showing the symbols and
conventions understood at the time the plan was prepared |
| additional records of survey in the form of
reports, calculations and the like |
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Deterioration of
Symbols
In the absence of adequate maintenance of surveying systems,
marks on the ground can be lost or deteriorate to become
unrecognisable. Similarly, paper records can disintegrate and inks
can fade to a point where documents can become unreadable.
Electronic data is often susceptible to fading and corruption
through magnetic field interference and other causes. Thus,
maintaining the meanings and understandings related to boundaries
depends firstly on maintaining the marks and symbolism on which
those understandings are based.
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THE SEMANTIC
LEVEL |
Associating Meaning
with Coding
Language encodes an observer's experience into the sounds of a spoken
language or the visual or electronic symbols of a written language.
Messages encode the experience of the sender into the language of the sender.
Message decoding occurs
in the language and experience of the receiver. Effective communication of the meaning of a message
depends on how closely the sender's association of experience
and message encoding coincides with the receiver's association of
experience and message decoding.
Interpreting Boundary Marks
In placing boundary marks, a surveyor ought to consider what
kind of message is actually transmitted. In relation to a peg,
the following questions might be asked, for example:
| What does it mean when a surveyor places a peg at a corner? |
| Does a peg define a corner or a boundary? |
| The notion of a corner implies some marked change in direction, or an
intersection between two or more lines. But what does it mean to
talk about lines? |
| Are the boundaries really vertical planes
rather than horizontal lines? But are they really planes?
How can it be decided if they are vertical, given the potential
for local deflections of the vertical, for example? |
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Distinguishing
between Description and Definition
Surveying students should consider what it means to define
something in contrast to what it means to describe something. If
'define' is taken to mean something in absolute terms, then
surveying as an empirical science can never be definitive in any
absolute sense. It may mean something to speak of points, lines
an polygons as defined within the language and logic of a
logical system, but the application of these abstract or
conceptual understandings needs to be tempered with what they
can mean in practice.
Science proceeds on the basis of attempting to
describe some phenomenon in ways that are both economical and
suitable for a particular purpose. If the purpose changes, the
description may need to be made more precise. This is analogous
to practical surveying where economy, and suitability of
descriptions for particular purposes are paramount
considerations.
Summary
Attaching meaning to symbols comprising marks on the
ground and in documents occurs in trying to reach agreements and
understandings. However, people enter into agreements and
understandings with some purpose in mind. Thus, surveys
cannot define boundaries in any absolute sense for all purposes
and for all time. In
practice, the task becomes one of being able to create and
maintain understandings about land use for as long as they are
needed. |
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References:
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THE
EFFECTIVENESS PROBLEM
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Purpose for a Boundary
In placing survey marks on the ground, a surveyor communicates a
messages about location. The marks have meaning and should
regulate human behaviour. The effectiveness of a communication
depends on whether it achieves the purpose for which it was sent
- on an engineering survey or a boundary survey, for example.
Two significant issues emerge in relation to cadastral boundaries:
| the purpose of a plan of survey in giving
effect to a legal transaction that creates rights in land in the
first instance |
| the time period over which knowledge of the
rights might need to be preserved |
A significant factor in the organisation of
cadastral surveying is the indefinite time period for which
boundary information is necessary to control land occupation and
usage. Loss of information occurs over
time through entropic processes. Thus, effort is needed to
preserve and renew boundary information if it is to remain as a
viable indicator to guide people in their occupation and usage of
land. Thus, the effectiveness of a message about the
location of a boundary on the ground depends on how it alters
human behaviour in using land. In many instances, a lack of
respect for boundaries is much the same as lacking respect for
another person's property. It may be tantamount to a lack of
respect for the rule of law itself.
Doubts over boundary location may lead to prevarication in using or
improving land near the boundary. Doubts over whether a boundary has a
legitimate purpose may lead to people disregarding or failing to
attribute any importance to it. |
Purpose of a Plan
of Survey
In placing marks and applying plan drawing conventions in
preparing a plan of survey, a surveyor is sending a message to
allow some transaction to proceed. The owner and local
government signify their approvals in also signing the plan. The
message that the plan contains is effective if it allows a
particular transaction to proceed - the reconfiguration of land,
for example. But in allowing the transaction to proceed, the
agreement lasts for however long the estate in land survives -
the term of a lease, the tem of someone's life in the case of
something deriving from a life estate, or indefinitely in the
case of freehold title.
Perpetuating a Chain of Evidence
In cases where people wish to have their boundaries marked
without affecting the title in any way, Queensland surveyors
carry out what is known as an 'identification survey'. These
surveys can confuse the record of survey marks on the ground
unless recorded. Completeness of the historical record of
how each boundary has been marked is necessary to explain the
facts that a surveyor might find on the ground.
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References:
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METES
AND BOUNDS DESCRIPTIONS
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Options in
Describing Boundaries
The form of description that is possible or necessary in
describing the boundaries of an area depends to some extent
on boundary classifications.
A description of a natural or general boundary is workable without
survey. However, the description needs to refer to the feature to
be adopted as a boundary in a way that distinguishes it from
similar features elsewhere. The so-called fixed lines require
description through monuments and measurements. This also needs to
refer to unambiguous points on the ground as indicated by marks
placed or monuments created in the surveying process.Many jurisdictional boundaries were created by
reference to lines of latitude and longitude. Far from
being 'definitive', improvements in technology could move the
location of lines and latitude on the ground to reflect the
precision of the latest measurement. Some method of laying out
these lines on the ground was necessary to 'fix' the location of
these boundaries for practical administration of law and order.
A separate problem exists for maritime boundaries in that
marking is impractical.
Metes and Bounds
Basically a mete is a vector quantity combining elements of
direction and distance. A direction could be oriented to a
magnetic meridian or to the North Pole by angular measurement. A
distance can be measured from some specific starting point. In
many instances, administrative and jurisdictional boundary
descriptions use a combination of lines identified by their
bounds and lines identified by both metes and bounds.
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Lines of Latitude
and Longitudes or Geographic Coordinates
Lines of latitude or longitude might be used as part of a metes
description since they imply direction. The intersection of
lines and longitudes supposedly fixes a point on the ground.
However, the same point may have more than one set of
coordinates, depending on the geodetic specifications of the
spheroid. Thus, the description needs to refer also to the
geodetic system . As an example, the Treaty of Tokehega has geographic
coordinates expressed in WGS74 (referring to
Adjoining Descriptions
A parcel of land is described in effect if there is a
description of all adjoining lands. As an example, being
able to identify adjoining land on the north, south, east and
west necessarily provides a description of a subject parcel. In
Queensland, reference to adjoiners occurs through plan drawing
conventions that show lot numbers and plan numbers for all
adjoining lands.
The description
appearing below was one of the electoral districts made for the
purpose of electing representatives to the first parliament in
Queensland. This description highlights the importance of local
knowledge and place names at the time of creating the
description. Retracement of these boundaries would require
considerable historical research to rediscover its meaning.
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References:
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DELAYS BETWEEN
TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION
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Longevity in
Surveying Systems
In many instances, a substantial delay can
occur between the sending and the receiving of a message. As an example, the
intellectual contributions of ancient Greek philosophers to the study of
geometry has an influence even today on how surveyors
carry out their work. Geodetic, cadastral and hydrographic surveying
systems produce and maintain information over extended periods - often centuries of
time. These time frames are sufficient for substantial differences to
occur in coding conventions and the meaning that attaches to
various symbols.
Implications for Retracing the Work of
Earlier Surveyors
Some knowledge of surveying history is essential in interpreting
the results of older surveys, particularly in relation to the methods
used when
an earlier survey was made regarding:
| limitations on precision, lines of sight,
costs of survey and land values in performing the earlier
survey |
| marking surveys on the ground having regard
to available materials |
| the translation of marks into various forms
of boundary structures such as fences, walls and the like |
| the conventions used in describing land and
its boundaries |
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An Electoral
Division of 1859
Messages are sent in the language of a first observer and
received in the language of a second observer. Accordingly, making sense
of what the first observer has written will usually depend on how well a
second observer can appreciate the experience of the first observer.
This means that the second observer needs to understand the measuring technology
and the language conventions of the first observer.
This is the main reason why a surveyor reinstating boundaries should try
to 'walk in the footsteps' of the original surveyor in order to fully
appreciate the message that was sent.
The description of an electoral district
needed to elect a representative to the first Queensland
legislature in 1859 appears below. The names of people and the
references to place names in use then have very little
continuity with the present. Retracing these boundaries would
require considerable historical research. The problem is one of
identity - the names of people and the names of places can
become lost over time.
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3.
The electoral district of the hamlet of Fortitude Valley
Commencing at the
western corner of Henry Watson’s 1 acre and 32 perches and
bounded thence on the south by the road bearing west and
forming the south boundaries of George Poole’s 1 acre and 34
perches James Gibbon’s 1 acre 3 roods and 3 perches and
other lands to the road along the summit of the ridge dividing
Hanley’s Valley from Spring Hollow and by that road to the
ridge forming the southern watershed of York’s Hollow thence
on the north-west by the ridge dividing York’s Hollow from
Spring Hollow and a line north-easterly to the north side of
York’s Hollow on the north-east by lines down the north side
of the York’s Hollow Swamp south-easterly in all 37 chains
and 24 links to the bridge on the Eagle Farm Road and thence
by the south-west side of the road forming the south-west
boundary of T. Shannon’s 13 acres and 19 perches to the
north corner of Frederick Hingston’s 5 acres and 3 roods and
on the south-east by the north-west boundary of Hingston’s 5
acres and 3 roods south-westerly and by its continuation which
forms the north-west boundaries of William Thornton’s 5
acres and one rood T. Adams’ 4 acres and John McConnell’s
2 acres 2 roods and 27 perches to the north-east boundary of
Henry Watson’s 1 acre and 32 perches and by the north-west
boundaries of that land north-westerly and south-westerly to
its western corner the point of commencement.
Schedule
A of a Proclamation made by Sir William Thomas Denison,
Governor of New South Wales, on 20 December 1859 pursuant to
Letters Patent signed by Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace
on 6 June 1859 to create Queensland as a separate colony.
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COMMUNICATION METHODS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON ORGANISATION |
Introduction
The forms of communication
and memory available to a society impacts on the options available to
create and perpetuate evidence of boundary location.
Consequences of Oral Forms of Communication
In the absence of writing and the technology of map-making, the only
means of conveying information from one generation to the next is
through the spoken language and the retention of information within
living human memory. Under these circumstances:
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People develop understandings about
resources or things in the physical environment |
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Living human memory becomes the sole
source of information about understandings about things in the physical environment |
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The death and birth of community members
calls for continuous association by the community with those things in
the physical environment about which it is important socially to
perpetuate understandings |
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The limits on information confine the
scope of organisation to extended families, tribes or clans |
Historically, oral traditions pertaining to
boundaries of local governments, parishes, manors and properties were
maintained through ceremony known as 'beating the bounds'. This issue
has continuing relevance in relation to
native or customary titles. |
Consequences of Written Description
With the advent of written communication:
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Oral communication is no longer the sole
method of inter-personal communication where written forms become
possible |
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Living human memory is no longer the can
be assisted by artificial memory in the form of private and public
records in files and libraries |
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New problems emerge with the necessity to
prevent accidental loss or fraudulent manipulation of written
information or the extrinsic information to which it relates |
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Knowledge of the language conventions
needs to be kept alive to allow interpretation of documents over
extended periods of time |
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The ability to store and retrieve
information in private and public records determines the scope of
organisation |
Consequences of Electronic Recording
The ability to record information in digital
form increases the capacity to store and retrieve information in that
format. Generally, this allows the scope of organisation to increase.
However, this does not necessarily have much impact on the need to
retain the language conventions of the past. Moreover, it opens the
information to new forms of vulnerability with accidental and deliberate
corruption of digital information and computer fraud. |
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References:
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Google search - 'customary
land titles' - 'statute
of frauds' - 'land
registration' - 'land
title registration' -
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George A. Miller, 'Information and memory',
Scientific
American. vol. 195 no.2 (August 1956) pp.42-46 rpt. in
George A. Miller (ed.), The psychology of communication; seven essays, (Harmondsworth,
Middlesex: Penguin, 1967) pp.11-20 -
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George A. Miller, 'The magical number seven, plus or minus
two: some limits on our capacity for processing information', Psychological
Review, vol.63 no.2 (March 1956 pp.81-96 rpt. in Miller, The
psychology of communication, pp.21-50 - see
online
version
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Google search - 'beating
the bounds' - 'boundary
perambulation' - 'boundary
evidence - perambulation'
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John S. Cook, 'Survey Lore:
Perambulating the boundaries of the City of Sydney',
Australian Surveyor, Vol.37 No.3 (September 1992) pp.202-207
(in PDF)
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