Reddit mentions of Map Use: Reading and Analysis

You understand how a street map of your town relates to the real world, right? And how a map of the states relates to their location on the earth's surface? Those are reference maps, and what's "important" is the feature you're trying to find.

So do you need help with the specialized symbols used on some particularly technical map, or the basic metaphor that a map is merely a simplified view of the ground, looking straight down?

Maybe look at the first few pages of the Army's technical manual on mapreading. There's also this college textbook.