Interactive atlases - A new dimension of cartographic information transfer

Interactive multimedia atlases inherently offer entirely new possibilities for an interaction between users - with different levels of map reading skills - and different types of maps. By means of adding pertinent functionalities, such as making use of data bases tailored to specific scales, interactive atlases may become fully-fledged cartographic information systems, offering the opportunity of a wide spectrum of system-led database queries. Though cartographers have been using this potential for the production of maps for quite some time already, only more recent developments in electronic data processing opened up these new sources of information for the PC-user in general. In this paper first of all the conceptual prerequisites, the novel structure and desirable functionalities of interactive atlases are presented in bread outline. In this context the possibilities for, and problems of. visualizing geo-information and thematic data on a PC's rather small screen are analysed. The resolution and the size of the screen constitute major restrictions for visualizing maps satisfactorily. For this reason, an acceptable balance between a tried and tested traditional and a newly developed design is to be striven for. In order to convey a precise picture of the new dimension of cartographic information transfer, the specific features of a few interactive atlases currently available on the market are presented and critically evaluated. Moreover further possibilities for an interaction through additional functionalities are pointed out in this context. Originally it had only been intended to evaluate the functionalities of different interactive cartographic products as such, but then the present authors found that there were many inconsistencies in the map contents of some of these products, so the evaluation was extended to include a discussion of the content as one of the central indicators for the quality of an atlas. Certainly cartographers ought to be required to pay particular attention to an adequate and correct cartographic content in order to meet the expectations and legitimate demands of prospective users.