Magnetic dip: The angle at which the Earth's magnetic field at a particular place would tilt a freely suspended magnetic needle relative to the horizontal. Some types of compass can and should be mechanically adjusted for use in different regions of the world.

Magnetic north: The direction of the meridian along which a freely suspended magnetic needle would lie if it were influenced only by the Earth's magnetic field. Magnetic north is constantly moving, albeit so slowly that in almost all locations this movement causes only negligible error in compass use.

Map: A picture of the land, a map is a graphic representation, often two-dimensional, of some part (or all) of the Earth's surface. There are many different kinds of maps.

Map interview: The process of talking to community members and asking questions to help them record their information about the land on a map in sketch form, or in words.

Map projection: A particular way (such as UTM) of depicting the curved surface of the Earth as a two-dimensional map through the use of a specific mathematical algorithm.

Map scale: The reduction needed to display a representation of the Earth's surface on a map. A statement of a measure on the map and the equivalent measure on the Earth's surface, often expressed as a representative fraction of distance, such as 1:10,000 (one unit of distance on the map represents 10,000 of the same units of distance on the Earth).

Map series: A set of thematic maps of the same area, or a set of maps (that were made with the same process and format) to cover a region too large to fit on one map sheet at the desired scale.

Map registration: A technique by which to align two or more maps. such as an overlay map and a base map using special registration marks (or special holes and pins).

Mental map: A map that represents the perceptions and knowledge that a person has of an area.

Media: mass, interpersonal or hybrid media are basis devices that help to combine different communication channels for the ‘transportation’ and exchange of ‘textual, visual, auditive, tactile and or olfactory signals. Hence different media can be used in the context of methods and methodologies (source: Leeuwis, 2004)

Mental maps: an alternative term for cognitive map. A map that represents the perceptions and knowledge that a person has of an area (source: IAPAD). Mental maps are associated with all cultures, ages, genders, types of people, though there are big cultural differences in how significant they are as spatial representations.

Meridian: A great circle around the Earth, or half of one. A meridian of longitude (or line of longitude) connects the north and south poles. The meridian of longitude that passes through any particular point can be called the north meridian for that point.

Metadata (meta data) is "data about data", of any sort in any media. An item of metadata may describe an individual datum, or content item, or a collection of data including multiple content items and hierarchical levels, for example a database schema. In data processing, metadata is definitional data that provides information about or documentation of other data managed within an application or environment. The term should be used with caution as all data is about something, and is therefore metadata. (source: Wikipedia)

Methodologies are basically more or less a series of predefined steps, procedures and activities. Each step can involve the use or one or several methods. Methodologies are often known under a particular label or acronym, e.g. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) (source: Leeuwis, 2004).

Methods can be seen as a particular mode of using media and media combinations within the context of a confined activity. A method can (but need not) be and element in a methodology. Examples of methods include a workshop, a discussion group, a farm visit, a priority ranking (an element of e.g. PRA) (source: Leeuwis, 2004).

Mosaicing is the process of assembling a series of images and joining them together to form a continuous seamless photographic representation of the earth’s surface. These can be done manually on aerial photos or digitally with remote sensing images and scanned aerial photos or digital aerial photos (source: Silika Tuivanuavou, 2006).

Metre tape: A measuring tool used in surveying that is marked in meters. Basic models consist of a rolled nylon or fiberglass tape that extends to 30 or 50 m.

Mylar: A particular kind of drawing 'paper' made of plastic. It is available with one or both sides 'frosted' (matte) to take pencil or drawing ink.

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