A retrospective on the Norwegian national atlas

Jens Christian Hansen, former chair of Norway's National Atlas Council, discusses the shift from folders of loose maps and text booklets to a book series. He reports that the vegetation volume appeared in 1998 and the health volume in December 1996 after repeated delays. Publication of the health volume left the broader living-conditions theme incomplete, with its other main component shelved. The sports volume appeared in 1997 with a contractual partner and external funding, although the council had not given it scholarly priority. Hansen credits the work invested in developing the book format but questions whether selling individual thematic volumes could sustain a unified national atlas. He reports that book production proved very expensive and sales were insufficient, while Kartverket lacked the staff capacity to secure new co-financed projects.