Electronic Atlas

Summary

Electronic atlases are coherent, systematic collections of digital maps and associated information distributed online or through electronic media. This article reviews their functions, classifications, and historical development. Such atlases may support panning, zooming, layer control, hyperlinks, animation, audio, database queries, class selection, and simulation modeling. According to functionality, they can be classified as read-only, user-created, or analytical products, while remaining distinct from general geographic information systems through their integrated map collections. Emerging from experimental projects in the 1980s, electronic atlases expanded rapidly during the 1990s as national and regional products were distributed first on CD-ROM and later via the Web. Their increasing multimedia, dynamic, and interactive capabilities broadened access to both contemporary geospatial information and rare historical atlases. They now support education, digital libraries, encyclopedias, and access to national geospatial data infrastructures.