The Role of Output Devices in the Higher Education Courses of Cartography - Maps for the Future Children Education and Internet - page 27

Chapter 3
The Role of Output Devices in the Higher
Education Courses of Cartography

L ´ szl ´ Zentai

Abstract The rapid development of information technology affected cartography
considerably in the last three to four decades of the twentieth century. In higher
education curriculums the reproduction process was thought as a totally indepen-
dent subject or a part of other related subjects. Cartographers should know the
whole technical process to be sure that the maps will be reproduced as they were
planned. As digital output devices become wide-spread and higher education
institutes could afford these devices in the first phase the course about map
reproduction was complemented by digital methods and the necessary theoretical
information about the process was also added. In the second phase when the output
device becomes easily available for even home users the traditional offset printing
method has seemingly lost its importance and students were more interesting in
digital printing methods. Nowadays one of the most important output devices in
cartography is the screen of the computer, mobile phone, PDA which again made us
to make changes in the curriculum and emphasize the importance of these new
“output devices”.

3.1 Introduction

The first independent cartographic courses were established in the Moscow State
University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK) in 1923. There were other
important institutes concerning cartography at that time, in Z urich and in Vienna,

but to establish an independent cartography course in these and other Western and
Central European universities and high schools took longer time.
If we checking the curriculums of the early cartography courses we can realize
the big difference between the old and modern structure. Actually there are much