Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
communicating information to a wide range of
people. The technology—the graphics display
cards, the printers, the innovative tools and the
WWW have all made the cartography of today
'come alive'. While it is now possible to do a great
deal more with the computer than was at first
possible, static maps still feature in the map
vocabulary. However, the electronic map has been
extended to new dimensions, providing many
more options to examine spatial data and
information in new and exciting ways.
As noted by Todd (http://maps.unomaha.edu/
peterson/methods/Research/Todd/Todd.html):
WHERE IS COMPUTER MAPPING GOING?
The Internet is now probably the best place to
obtain a clear picture of the direction in which
computer and digital mapping technology is
currently going, simply because it is a medium for
the non-cartographer and cartographer alike to
communicate, display and apply the technology,
which raises awareness of digital maps (see http://
www.maps.unomaha.edu/NACIS/paper.html).
Digital maps and map data (in both raster and
vector format) are now widely available across the
Internet to browse, interact with, download (http:/
/www.deasy.psu.edu/deasy/download.html) or
purchase. There are a wide variety of different
examples to examine, from the static map, to the
animated and the interactive map, and the image
map. The Internet has provided a multimedia
information resource and delivery medium for
many different types of data and information, the
map (as data or information) being just one
example. More than anything else, the Internet
reveals modern cartography in practice.
The rapid developments in computer,
networking and communications technology have
successfully brought cartography back to the
forefront of applied geography in recent years. The
growth in GIS applications and now visualisation
tools has helped to both raise and to reawaken
current awareness in cartography and to re-
emphasise the importance of the map as a tool for
exploration, spatial analysis and visual
communication. But with the advent of the new
generation of powerful multimedia computer
technology, maps have (fortunately or perhaps
unfortunately) become something that everyone
can design and create for themselves. People can
select the data and information they want to
display. They can use maps in an electronic
medium, on a computer. Maps can be static,
animated, interactive, or linked to other maps and
information. They can be simple, complex or
multi-dimensional. It is clear that the map, albeit
still widely used in a paper medium, has
increasingly become a very powerful and
attractive, even persuasive, medium for examining
data, information and patterns and ultimately
As we near the year 2000, we continue to see
greater and greater advances in technology
every day. It seems that no matter what
discipline one is in, there is no escape for the
furthering of use, technology and knowledge.
Cartography is not immune to this and in fact,
cartography is thriving because of this. In the
not too distant past, we often would wonder at
the marvel of what these 'new' computers
could do—now it seems that we are often
disappointed at what a computer can not do.
Now that we have been given a glimpse of
what is possible, we want more. Again, that is
the case in cartography.
Products such as Quick TimeVR can serve as a
medium to deliver cartographic work into
another level…. And can be used effectively to
tell the story better.… I believe that interactive
maps are the future of cartography and that
mapping is entering a new interactive age.
QuickTime VR and cartography have an
unlimited potential together and soon we will
be treated to a whole new world of interactive
maps which are both easy to use…and also easy
to create.Virtual cartography has begun.
The advances in computer cartography, together
with the related and integrated technologies of
GIS, GPS, remote sensing, visualisation and the
Internet, provide the applied geographer with a
powerful set of tools to aid in the analysis and
representation of the contemporary world. Taken
together, these technologies should be seen as a
