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The paper discusses changes that have occurred over the last 15 years in how maps are sold, where they are sold and who is buying them. The emphasis is on the situation in the United States of America, but developments in Europe and the United Kingdom are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the results of an original research study that was based on the analysis of British charts of the Adriatic produced during and immediately after military operations undertaken by British forces and their allies against Napoleon in the Adriatic. We analyse the creation and production of British charts of the Adriatic from the first charting campaign of the Hydrographic Office of 1800-1801 to charts produced in the period of British rule over the island of Lissa of 1811-1815 to the first systematic hydrographic surveying of the Adriatic of 1817-1819 under the leadership of William Henry Smyth that resulted in the first hydrographic atlas and pilot book of the Adriatic. At the same time, the paper evaluates the British contribution to the creation of some of the first reliable nautical charts of the Adriatic and to the development of the nautical cartography of the Adriatic in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent do European state topographic maps exhibit unique styles of cartography? This paper describes an investigation to classify and analyse stylistic diversity in the official 1 : 50 000 topographical mapping of 20 European countries. The method involves the construction of a typology of cartographic style, based upon the classification of distinct graphical legend symbols into mutually exclusive thematic categories. In order to identify stylistic similarities between national symbologies, hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to compare the relative proportions of symbols within each category. This was complemented by a qualitative analysis of various aspects of cartographic design: colour, 'white' space, visual hierarchy, and lettering. The results indicate a high degree of stylistic diversity throughout Europe, with the symbologies of Great Britain and Ireland demonstrating the strongest example of a supranational style. The typology of cartographic symbologies is shown to be an effective method for determining stylistic association among maps of differing geographical (and potentially historical) origins and it is suggested that the cartographic language paradigm should be revisited as a means for understanding why national differences persist in state cartography. A version of this paper was presented at the Twenty-third International Cartographic Conference in Moscow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for the importance of retaining a map library presence on UK university campuses at a time when many are under threat of closure, and access to geospatial data is increasingly moving to web-based services. It is suggested that the need for local expertise is undiminished and map curators need to redefine themselves as geoinformation specialists, preserving their paper map collections, but also meeting some of the challenges of GIS, and contributing to national developments in the construction of distributed geolibraries and the provision of metadata, especially with regard to local data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the pace of change increases and new technologies emerge faster than we can assimilate them, we can be forgiven for occasionally feeling left breathless, with new technologies, new skills and new approaches required at regular intervals. In the geographic information industry new ways of collecting data, new data providers and new users entering the industry, different ways of publishing maps and information, greater flexibility and ways of reaching all kinds of new users are all examples where the boundaries have been pushed back more in the last 10 years than in the previous 100. Changes in the mainstream underlying computing technology have enabled and facilitated this so much so more than radical new methods from within the industry. The impact of change on mapping and geographic information is as great as much as any other industry or the change we witness in our own lives from day to day. However, when we stand back and consider what our overall goals are, better management of resources, better education, health and quality of life, greater care in the use of the environment etc. — these are much the same as they always have been. The difference today is that the technology now allows us to really start to address the key issues we have before us. How then do we bring coherence to an apparently disconnected world? How do we prevent diffusion and potential chaos, especially when information integration is a critical success factor? How do we organize ourselves to do that? The paper will describe the concept of the Digital National Framework and how this is now developing to support such an infrastructure and how new technologies e.g. GML are facilitating its development. The paper proposes that we have to start by simplifying the GI infrastructure and recognize the building blocks in developing that infrastructure. We need to incorporate methods that unite and integrate definitive information. This in turn can be used to underpin all kinds of information in a joined-up way. Thereon it will support data sharing, decision making and problem-solving faster and more cost effectively than ever before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]