INTERACTIVE ATLASES - A NEW DIMENSION OF CARTOGRAPHIC INFORMATION-TRANSFER

Interactive multimedia atlases inherently offer entirely new possibili ties for an interaction between users - with different levels of map r eading skills - and different types of maps. By means of adding pertin ent functionalities, such as making use of data bases tailored to spec ific scales, interactive atlases may become fully-fledged cartographic information systems, offering the opportunity of a wide spectrum of s ystem-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 thes e new sources of information for the PC-user in general. In this paper first of all the conceptual prerequisites, the novel structure and de sirable functionalities of interactive atlases are presented in bread outline. In this context the possibilities for, and problems of. visua lizing geo-information and thematic data on a PC's rather small screen are analysed. The resolution and the size of the screen constitute ma jor restrictions for visualizing maps satisfactorily. For this reason, an acceptable balance between a tried and tested traditional and a ne wly developed design is to be striven for. In order to convey a precis e picture of the new dimension of cartographic information transfer, t he 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 a re pointed out in this context. Originally it had only been intended t o evaluate the functionalities of different interactive cartographic p roducts as such, but then the present authors found that there were ma ny inconsistencies in the map contents of some of these products, so t he evaluation was extended to include a discussion of the content as o ne of the central indicators for the quality of an atlas. Certainly ca rtographers ought to be required to pay particular attention to an ade quate and correct cartographic content in order to meet the expectatio ns and legitimate demands of prospective users.