Ebook: International Perspectives on Maps and the Internet

1 International Perspectives on Maps and the Internet: An Introduction Michael P. Peterson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 Delivering geospatial information with Web 2. 0 William Cartwright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3 Map design for the Internet Bernhard Jenny, Helen Jenny, Stefan Räber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 4 Web Cartography and the Dissemination of Cartographic Information about Coastal Inundation and Sea Level Rise Mark Monmonier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 5 An Elastic Map System with Cognitive Map-based Operations Naohisa Takahashi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 1 International Perspectives on Maps and the Internet: An Introduction Michael P. Peterson 1. 1 Introduction The Mosaic browser, the ? rst to support graphics, was introduced in 1993 and, at some point during that year, the ? rst map was transmitted through the Internet to a web page. Little notice was taken of the ? rst web map but the development of Internet cartography since has been nothing but remarkable. The new medium of communication changed maps from static entities on paper to dynamic products of interaction. Millions of maps are now created by servers every hour and transmitted through the Internet. When we need to ? nd a place or ? nd out about a place, we turn immediately to these servers through the Internet. In a few short years, the World Wide Web has transformed the Internet into the primary medium for the dissemi- tion of spatial information in the form of maps.

The Internet has redefined how maps are used. No longer restricted to paper, maps are now transmitted almost instantly and delivered to the user in a fraction of the time required to distribute maps on paper. They are viewed in a more timely fashion. Weather maps, for example, are updated continuously throughout the day. Most importantly, maps on the Internet are more interactive. They are accessed through a hyperlinking structure that makes it possible to engage the map user on a higher-level than is possible with a map on paper. Finally, the Internet is making it possible to more easily distribute different kinds of cartographic displays such as animations.

The Internet presents the map user with both a faster method of map distribution and different forms of mapping. This book provides an international perspective on this growing area of information dissemination.