Stig Jaatinen · 1990
Editorial chairman Stig Jaatinen describes the fifth edition of the Atlas of Finland, planned from 1971, with compilation beginning in 1974 and the first folio, Forestry, appearing in 1977. Its planned 26 thematic folios were organized around physical environment; population, economy and communications; and society, culture and living conditions. Joint publication by the Geographical Society of Finland and the National Survey depended on state support, a small editorial staff and extensive institutional cooperation. Production shifted from manual techniques to automation, including Thematic FINGIS. Jaatinen emphasizes geographical analysis and synthesis, careful thematic classifications and independent editorial scrutiny of largely existing data. Examples include multiscale presentation of Quaternary deposits in Geology, regular diagram scales for comparing fish catches, and coordinated colours in Forestry and Biogeography, Nature Conservation. He also identifies publication delays, uneven detail, overloaded graphics, translation and text–image coordination problems, and reduced methodological coherence across numerous contributors. He judges the edition a strong foundation for regional information on Finland while insisting that technological development requires a coherent geographical philosophy.
S. Jaatinen · 1991
In his account of the fifth edition of the Atlas of Finland, Stig Jaatinen describes preparations beginning in 1970 and the establishment in 1974 of joint publishing arrangements between the Geographical Society of Finland and the National Board of Survey, with a state-funded editorial unit. He credits the Board’s MAAGIS system with helping sustain the planned thematic and cartographic programme. Approximately 600 contributors worked through institutions, teams and individual commissions, with the editorial office coordinating and finishing their material. The thematic folios combine Finnish text with multilingual graphic explanations and separate Swedish and English text appendices. Jaatinen acknowledges overloaded graphics, difficult prose and uneven layout, and notes that readers must actively assemble information across themes. He treats each folio as current at its own publication date; completion of the edition was then expected in 1992.
