William Cartwright, Department of Land Information, RMIT University, Latrobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia. Phone +61 3 660 2423 Fax: +61 3 663 2517. Email: w.cartwright@rmit.edu.au Home Page: Land Information Department.
Liddy Nevile, Sunrise Research Laboratory, RMIT University, Latrobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia. Phone +61 3 660 3461 Fax: +61 3 660 2761. Email: liddy@rmit.edu.au Home Page: Sunrise Research Laboratory.
We want our users to be able to determine what will be of interest to them, and to discover afresh hotlists of web pages which will make up their atlas. To do this, they will use web searching tools and for that they may need our help. We will generate a 'hotlist' of searching keywords and strings for them to use. This means that neither the searches, nor the hotlists of URLs they generate, will become frozen.
In 1472, a map of Seville was printed as part of a book, heralding a renaissance in map making.
This use of printing technology revolutionised the use of maps. Previously, maps were not widely available and not always very reliable. Manuscripts were hand-copied and often errors could not be detected. Printed maps were at least authenticated copies of the originals and map-production flourished. Exploration fuelled the greatest real estate venture of all times and Europe was hungry for maps of the known and the new world.
The concept of atlas as a bound collection of manuscripts came from this period. Seeking complete coverage, publishers sourced maps from each other and cartographers distributed throughout Europe. These early atlases became centralised, static collections of distributed materials which had to be reassembled and republished as time went by. Nevertheless, these historic examples form a good model for thinking about atlases on the world wide web. Today, the cartographers can maintain their maps locally and the 'atlas' can be a virtual collection, generated by the user according to purpose, skill, or interest.
Using the web, the quality of user-made collections of maps will depend upon user skills as much as the quality of the distributed publications they are gathering. One way to support the user would be to provide access to a search engine which would ascertain the user's needs and then do the searching. Another way would be to provide the user with a customised search engine. Both solutions again involve the freezing of the collection process.
To further facilitate the development of a user-collected atlas, we imagine the provision of forms for use by those who do not want to work directly with search tools. These forms will locate search tools and feed them the queries. This will make it possible for users to 'dial-up' their queries on a number of dimensions (detail, locality, language, types of information) and return addresses (the user's).
We note the many emerging tools and data sets which are increasing the potential of the distributed world wide network to serve users of maps. We also recognise the changing nature of users' needs and functions with maps. We believe that a feature such as our virtual search engine would add yet another dimension to the use of the world wide web as a dynamic distributed atlas, appropriately moving the original notion of 'atlas' into the 21st century.
The History of Atlases
The earliest concept of an atlas was a physical collection of maps sourced
from cartographers own works and that of his colleagues in other parts of
the coverage area. This could be considered the earliest form of a
distributed database. The content was created locally by individual
cartographers and collected into one volume. We see this as a clear link
to what we see today in a distributed database of data on Internet, content
is created locally and any collection of information is up to the user.
This is where we see our role, to provide a system where users can
'collect' this information to produce their own 'virtual atlas'. Early
editions of 'atlases' were hand copied manuscripts which introduced errors
and later copies were produced by the advent of the printing process where
more accurate copies of the original could be produced. This reduced
errors introduced by the hand. The data on a computer network does not
have the problem of determining what data is most up to date as the most
up-to-date information is that which is supplied
on-line.
The current perception of what an atlas is still seems to be that of a printed and bound set of maps with ancillary textual information and a gazetteer at the back. This paper can be considered as a re-conceptualisation of the original meaning of the term 'atlas'.
Canadians have thought about the notion of the changing nature of mapping and the uses to which they are put. They describe the economic history of Canada and its effects on the mapping of Canada, leading to the most recent "National Atlas [HREF1]" which is a combination of geographic data and search engines, resulting in a user-driven, map-making system. As they write,
Although budgetary restraints of the 1980s resulted in a reduction in its original scope, the 5th edition [HREF2] comprises 92 maps which are available in both French and English versions. Maps are presented at a larger scale than previous editions (primarily 1:7 500 000) and, for the first time, digital cartography and remotely sensed data from satellite images were used.
Dr. Visvalingam of The University of Hull put together a discussion paper for the British Cartographic Society's annual Technical Symposium entitled - "Mapping the Developing Profession, or Developing the Mapping Profession" (Visvalingam, 1992). It published some of the responses received from a request for members of the British cartographic profession to make comment about where cartography was heading.
Looking at "Future Cartography" (as coined by Michael Wood in his submission to the paper) and what will be on offer to users it is well worth quoting where several prominent members of the profession in the U.K. see where cartography is travelling.
Robin Orr, of Bartholomew, says
"It is the search for ever more efficient and faster production techniques that led to the adoption of computer-aided mapping methods as dramatic improvements in conventional labour-intensive techniques would be difficult to achieve and would not meet the requirements of new applications."
"If the technology offers greater flexibility, better quality and higher productivity and enables us to service new markets, then surely we cannot regret it" (Visvalingam, 1992, p vii)Michael Wood, of Aberdeen University [HREF23], made these comments :-
"...little scope for experimentation in the pre-digital era, designs were established and specifications followed with meticulous care ..." "Cartographic training in the 1970's and later remained fairly traditional ..." "Design education and related cognitive and perceptual studies need to expand to establish and consolidate this core area of cartographic education."
"Future cartography is beginning to redevelop these under-utilised procedures and, with full access to graphic symbolism, transparency, animation and user interaction , cartography will grow to new dimensions of user value and will not merely be regarded as one output option of GIS."(Visvalingam, 1992, p x - xii)
Approaching the topic from another perspective, we find philosophers asking what is happening to those things we traditionally map, like cities. In their series of lectures , the Rice Foundation plan to investigate such issues.
As social philosopher Paul Virilio wrote, "The representation of the contemporary city is no longer determined by a ceremonial opening of gates, by a ritual procession or parades nor by a succession of streets and avenues. From now on architecture must deal with the advent of a 'technological space-time.'"
The impact of these new technologies on our cities has been profound, contributing to a dismantling of the historic city and the reconstruction of urban life in entirely new, free-floating forms. The traditional connection between prpinguity and community has been decoupled. Increasingly, our thinking about the city must confront the fact that we live not simply in places, but in cities constructed as simulations and complex webs. Public life has moved from Main Street and the Malt shop to the hyper-environment of the shopping mall and the surface of the video screen.
The progression from collections of hand drawn maps, to printed maps, to virtual collections of maps has seen the use of atlases change somewhat. Each type of collection gave rise to different manners of usage. The significant changes brought about by the advent of printing technology is being seen again by the popular use of globally networked computing. Printing technology allowed wider access to such works as atlases. The future is headed toward the change from printed material to digital material. Access to digital information is increasingly obtained from the Internet (50 million + users).
The use of printed atlases varies greatly depending upon the user, and therefore no atlas is particularly suited to an individual user. The latest type of collection gives the user a far more powerful tool than the previous forms of atlas ever did. The problem the user has at the present time is finding maps on the Internet. The user is in need of tools or 'a tool' that allows them to create their own virtual collection of maps as their own atlas.
The first step in producing the interface is to determine the parameters that are important in tuning a search to a specific user. Such parameters may include: level of detail, language used, type of information (eg: map, image, photo, text), place of interest, etc [etc or be conclusive]. The users' response to these questions will then go to forming a search routine designed to locate resources on the Internet that fit the users' requirements.
NAIS in Canada have a long list [HREF2] of domain approaches/purposes for their users to choose from:
Physical Climatology Geology Geomorphology Geophysics Hydrology Environmental Ecology Environment Phytogeography Historical Defence Exploration Political Administrative and Geostatistical Areas International Affairs Political Geography Social/Cultural Culture Ethnography Migrations Population Vital Statistics Economic Agriculture Communications Economic Geography Employment Energy Forestry Fisheries Income Mining Manufacturing Transportation Urban Canada
"What is it?To try some clever starting points in the map-making process, you can visit Norway.Xearth sets the X root window to an image of the Earth, as seen from your favorite vantage point in space, correctly shaded for the current position of the Sun.
By default, xearth updates the displayed image every five minutes; the time between updates can be changed using either X resources or a command line option.
Xearth can also render directly into PPM and GIF files instead of drawing in the root window; see the man page for details."
Alternatively, you might like to view the front-end [HREF11] being developed in Canada for the NAIS [HREF12] system.
Some other starting points:
In fact, the maps or map-making facilities which the user gets to use may not be owned or stored by one supplier, as has to be the case with traditional publishing. 'Mixing and matching' of data and software owned and kept by providers distributed across the world means that each provider can be responsible for maintaining and updating their contribution.
The world of publishing has already embraced multimedia using, mainly, CD-ROM as an alternative to paper. Book abstracts, bibliographic references etc have been published on optical devices. In the U.S.A. CNN News and ABC News are publishing interactive newspapers using Appleís ìQuicktimeî movies. To illustrate the wide range of titles being published, outlines of some of the products are given below.
CNN NEWSROOM Global View, Compact Publishing, Inc.. Users select video essays from the simulated video monitors and see CNNís news coverage. It includes more than one hour of narrated video. Users can explore different point-of-view from articles, charts and maps drawn from worldwide publications. Users can select the GLOBE and zoom in on detailed maps of every county and region; get complete descriptions and data on every country and region, examine information and analyse trends from a database of world statistics; build their own colour charts and graphs to display their results using graphics tools.
COMPTONS FAMILY ENCYCLOPEDIA WITH WORLD ATLAS, Compton's NewMedia, Inc [HREF18]., features all 26 volumes of the 1991 print version of Compton's Encyclopedia - 10,000 images, maps and graphs, 30 minutes of sound and an interactive, multiple-window world atlas.
COMPTONS INTERACTIVE ENCYCLOPEDIA FOR WINDOWS, Compton's NewMedia, Inc., presents thousands of pictures, drawings and photos; 10 research paths to retrieve the information; an interactive world atlas with links to 121,000 related pictures and articles; enhanced sound and full-motion Video for Windows (VfW); the complete Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary and Thesaurus.
FODOR [HREF19] 94 TRAVEL MANAGER is designed for use on Apple's Newton Message Pad. GeoSystem's GeoLocate engine is the underlying technology, which allows users of the Newton to view locations in a number of US cities and retrieve restaurant or business information and navigate around the city using a map or narrative directions. By clicking individual site icons, the user can see the address, telephone number and a brief description (GIS World, 1993)
GEOMEDIA from the USGS [HREF20] uses hypermedia techniques to make associative links between graphics, text, animation and sound. Animations show earth science processes such as plate tectonics and the water cycle and an ìunderstanding mapsî section explains the use of maps. (GIS World, 1993)
THE NEW GROLIER [HREF21] MULTIMEDIA ENCYCLOPEDIA by The Software Toolworks [HREF22] . The system uses boolean search logic and hypertext-like linking of articles with online help and bookmark features. It includes 33,000 articles with more than 250 full-colour maps. Users can save, cut and paste and retrieve stored information with the Electronic Bookmark and Note Pad, or use the Knowledge Tree to search quickly for broad or narrow topics.
THE PACIFIC RIM DISCOVERY CD-ROM, John Wiley & Sons Canada, is a total multimedia presentation containing thousands of articles, photos, maps, graphs, literary references of nine regions and more than 30 countries of the Pacific Rim. Features include: full hypertext links between related subjects, backup material in the form of text related to maps, graphs, charts, photos and video; every screen can be printed, including notes made on screen; and every word, photo, map, graphic, etc, is completely indexed.
The NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY products include ìMammals: A multimedia Encyclopediaî a CD-ROM - based encyclopedia containing 700 full-screen captioned colour photographs, 45 full-motion video clips, 155 animal vocalisations, 150 range maps and statistics screens, classification screens, essays on each mammal and a pop-up glossary. Picture Atlas Of the World; on CD-ROM contains more than 900 captioned photographs, audio and video clips, more than 800 interactive maps, essays on each of the 200 countries covered and animations on latitude and longitude and map projections.
Interactive MultiMedia Atlases
Cartographers and Multimedia
Multimedia is really not a new idea to Cartographers. They have always designed and produced maps and associated products using a plethora of devices and media elements. Looking at any atlas, one sees the innovative use of maps, graphics, text and photographs. The "tools" we use includes computer graphics, photogrammetry, statistical analysis, CAD, GIS, printing technology .....and so the list goes on.
Cartographers are attuned to the "idea" of assembling a useable mapping package by using many graphic elements in innovative ways. Multimedia offers Cartographers more (digital electronic) tools with which to design and assemble contemporary map products.
Cartwright , W.E., 1994 "Interactive Multimedia and Mapping", Visualisation in Modern Cartography, Fraser Taylor and MacEachren (eds), London: Permagon Press.
Cartwright, W.E., 1994, Multimedia in an Undergraduate Course in Land Information: from Pen to Interactive Programming, proceedings Interactive Multimedia in University Education: Designing for Change in Teaching and Learning Conference, International Federation for Information Processing, Working Group 3.2 - Computers at University Level, Melbourne, July 1994
GIS World 1993 - GIS World, October 1993, p 10.
Makedon F, RebelskyS A, Cheyney C, Owen C and Gloor P (1994) "Issues and obstacles with Multimedia Authoring" in T Ottman and I Tomek (1994) "Educational Multimedia and Hyermedia, 1994" Charlottesville, VA, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, pp. 38-45.
Visvalingam, M (1992) Mapping the Developing Profession, or Developing the Mapping Profession, Discussion Paper, British Cartographic Society.
AusWeb95 The First Australian WorldWideWeb Conference