T. W. Plumb · 1962
The Branch’s account reports that its geographers prepared the thirty map sheets of the Atlas of Australian Resources, with the final five sheets of the First Series published in September 1960. A Second Series programme began in mid-1961, with plans to replace the existing sheets and accompanying commentary booklets progressively at three new sheets per year. Most maps were to revise existing sheets, while some topics would be replaced. The base maps had already been recompiled on a simple conic projection with two standard parallels. Planned formats retained a single Australia map at 1:6,000,000 or several smaller-scale maps, and introduced a sheet depicting the more densely settled areas in two maps at 1:4,500,000.
T. W. Plumb · 1963
Editor T. W. Plumb reports on preparations for the second series of the Atlas of Australian Resources, whose first mapsheets and accompanying booklet commentaries were scheduled for publication by the Department of National Development in 1963. The first series was completed in September 1960, and the second was initiated in mid-1961. Plans called for three sheets annually, replacing, subdividing or combining existing topics while retaining the map and commentary formats and withdrawing older sheets from sale. “Electricity” would replace “Power and Fuel”, with fuels covered separately later. “Population Distribution and Growth” had been compiled and was being drawn, incorporating population change for 1954–61. The advanced “Soils” revision adapted C. G. Stephens’ 1961 map to the atlas’s 1:6 million base; Stephens prepared a commentary, and the map’s colour design and commentary emphasized land use. Plumb also outlines work or plans for minerals, fisheries, agriculture, underground water and geology. He welcomes suggestions and reports direct departmental distribution from November 1962, lower prices and expanded concessions for Australian educational bodies and government departments.
T. W. Plumb · 1964
Editor T. W. Plumb reports on the Atlas of Australian Resources, Second Series, begun in 1961 to progressively revise the thirty-sheet first series compiled by the Department of National Development from 1951 and completed in 1960. The loose-leaf revision programme combines updated sheets, new topics and withdrawals while retaining thirty sheets; the planned replacement rate of three sheets annually had not yet been fully achieved.
The second series retains whole-continent coverage and a basic scale of 1:6,000,000, introduces an equidistant conic projection, and revises base maps using recent topographic maps and census data. For selected themes, two sectional maps at 1:4,500,000 accompany a continental map at 1:12,000,000. Sheet reverses provide source and reliability information or larger-scale detail. Specialist commentaries are being prepared for each sheet, with atlas geographers assisting interpretation and the editor coordinating contributions.
Published examples include Electricity (1962), Soils (1963), and Population Distribution and Growth (1964). Additional soil surveys increased soil mapping units from 18 to 32. The population sheet uses rural dots, proportional squares for urban populations, and classified intercensal growth rates; rural dots were initially plotted at 1:1,000,000 using census and topographic material. In September 1964, revised Mineral Deposits and Geology sheets and the new Fish and Fisheries sheet were in preparation. Plumb concludes that a practicable programme of progressive revision was operating.
