Netherlands荷兰

Werner Witt

This article reviews the Atlas van Nederland, a large-scale national atlas project initiated under the Dutch Ministry of Education. Published in installments since 1963, it planned 109 map sheets, of which 57 had appeared by 1966, with a main scale of 1:600,000. The author outlines the atlas's organizational history and structure, which comprises 17 topical sections covering geology, soils, climate, hydrology, historical geography, settlement, population, and more. Representative sheets such as soil and population maps are analyzed for their content and cartographic techniques. The review praises the atlas's high quality and printing excellence, while noting minor binding drawbacks, and considers it a significant scientific contribution.

Werner Witt

This article comprises three short book reviews in German. The first evaluates the 1978 supplement to the Atlas van Nederland, containing five maps that depict potential natural vegetation, changes in marital fertility (1959-1975), age structure, religious denominations, and degree of urbanization; the maps maintain the atlas's high cartographic and technical standards. The second review recommends a comprehensive geographical bibliography, organized with registers, for teachers and advanced scholars. The third introduces the third revised edition of Klaus Schmidt's "Erdgeschichte" (1978), extended by 48 pages and updated with new figures and tables. Overall, these reviews highlight recent German-language scholarly works and their utility for research and teaching.

W. Stams

This review discusses the latest deliveries of the Atlas of the Netherlands, covering transport maps (aviation, shipping, rail/road/inland waterways) and historical farmstead types in delivery 10, as well as geological, tectonic, hydrogeological, biogeographical, nature conservation, industrial, and seaport maps in deliveries 11/12. The maps employ varied cartographic techniques such as distorted grids, band representations, and profile sections, with excellent colour and printing quality. The atlas is methodologically inspiring and serves as a valuable reference. With the final delivery announced for 1977, it will comprise 98 map sheets, supplemented by 16 updating sheets.

Marc de Smidt

This article reviews the conceptual framework and organizational practice of the second edition of the Atlas of the Netherlands (published in 20 volumes between 1984 and 1988). In response to the limitations of the first encyclopedic inventory, the new edition adopts a problem-oriented approach organized around five main themes: population and settlements, human welfare, human resources, natural resources and environment, and physical planning. Methodologically, the atlas treats cartography as a communication medium, applies graphic semiology as a grammar, and combines diverse map types with explanatory texts. The article argues that the new atlas deliberately gives cartography a human scope, focusing on major societal and planning issues rather than exhaustive resource inventories, and addresses both specialists and the general public. It also describes the collaborative production structure, involving an editorial committee, some 60 authors, a cartographic bureau and a publisher, within a strict schedule. The atlas thus represents not only an updated national spatial document but also a demonstration of the humanistic orientation of cartography and the continuing relevance of national atlases for planning and public communication.

C. P. J. M. van Elzakker; N. J. Bakker; F. J. Ormeling

This article examines national atlases, their functions, contents, design requirements and role in national development, using the production of the Atlas of the Netherlands as an example. A national atlas is defined as a fundamental multi-subject geographic atlas of a country, providing a systematic summary of contemporary scientific knowledge in physical, economic and political geography. The concept emerged during the 19th-century information explosion and first materialized in Finland in 1899. The International Geographical Union's commission promoted standardization and proliferation, so that by 1978 fifty-four countries had published national atlases. National atlases serve planning and decision-making, research, education, reference and cultural representation, and are particularly valuable in developing countries for social and economic development. Indirect benefits include establishing organizational networks for geographic data, stimulating interdisciplinary cooperation, improving local cartographic skills and standards, and supporting educational publishing. The Dutch experience demonstrates how modern production addresses user needs, data compatibility, design innovation and cost constraints. Looking ahead, digital technology and telecommunications are transforming national atlases into more dynamic geographic information systems: the traditional static paper atlas may become secondary to a digital data base that allows flexible access, rapid processing and up-to-date spatial information delivered on demand. Nevertheless, hard-copy atlases will not completely disappear, given their educational and reference functions. In developing countries, traditional paper atlases remain a worthwhile option because urgent development needs can still be met through their production. Whatever the medium, experts and cartographers will continue to play an essential role in structuring and presenting spatial information so that it remains relevant, reliable and comprehensible to users of future national atlas systems.

B. Köbben

Fifteen years after the discontinuation of the Scientific Atlas of the Netherlands, Wolters-Noordhoff has published the Bosatlas van Nederland, a new national atlas containing about 2,400 maps in nineteen thematic chapters. This review examines the atlas’s position relative to its scientific predecessor, its content and cartographic quality. It argues that although the atlas shares the national-atlas concept, it is editorially different: external specialists serve mainly as data suppliers rather than editors. The review notes both strengths and weaknesses: rich, surprising details, but also time-bound data and some chapters that fit awkwardly into a national atlas. Overall, the atlas is praised as a beautiful and usable reference for education, and its commercial success—becoming a bestseller—suggests it is a worthy successor for a broader public.

Menno-Jan Kraak; Ferjan Ormeling; Barend Köbben; Trias Aditya

This paper explores the potential of a national atlas as an integral part of a national Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), exemplified by the new Dutch National Atlas. Recent developments in national SDIs have stimulated interest in reviewing and renewing the national atlas concept. In a recent project, a feasibility study and prototype implementation of automatic visualization of spatial data available through the SDI were executed in a systematic and cartographically accountable way to guarantee an up-to-date national atlas. The objective was to investigate how the national atlas could be organized as an integral part of the SDI. The atlas would benefit from an up-to-date data flow, while the SDI would benefit from integrated visual summaries of available spatial data and geoservices in well-designed, comparable maps using the narrative characteristics of the atlas. As such, the national atlas provides alternative interactive and dynamic access to the SDI. This paper details the prototype implementation of the third edition of the Dutch National Atlas, which is based on datasets from national data providers (e.g., the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Geological Survey) and uses style templates to generate comparable maps. The paper discusses the atlas's positioning within the SDI, the required functionality (such as map comparison and data querying), technical implementation (including Scalable Vector Graphics, Flash, and platforms like Google Earth), and future updates and extensions, including the potential to leverage Web 2.0 communities (i.e., 'citizen scientists' or Volunteered Geographic Information) to update and enrich map content. Ultimately, the national atlas, integrated into the SDI, transcends its static and almost by definition outdated information provision image, gaining a new lease of life with many opportunities to play a useful role in the dynamic world of geoinformation where everyone is a cartographer.