Jim Irvine Head of Digital Resources and the Collins Newsroom Collins Geo Division HarperCollins Publishers

GIS for small scale atlas cartographyHHarperCollins

GIS Ireland 2012

Jim Irvine

Head of Digital Resources and the Collins Newsroom

Collins Geo Division

HarperCollins Publishers


GIS Ireland 2012

Who we are: Collins Geo – publishing division of HarperCollins

Making maps for over 175 years

Brands include:

• Collins and Times atlases and maps• Nicolson guides• Collins Bartholomew (non-trade)

30 staff based in Glasgow


GIS Ireland 2012

Our print products:


GIS Ireland 2012

Where does GIS fit into all this: Map Data / Scitex 1980s

Arc/Info and Oracle since 1989

Maplex since mid 1990s

1995, Times Concise Atlas – first fully digital flow line

Now ArcGIS 10.0, Oracle 11g, Maplex (stand alone)

Adobe CS5


GIS Ireland 2012

What does GIS look like? 1:1,000 scale

Familiar to most people

Individual land parcels and buildings


GIS Ireland 2012

What does GIS look like? 1:20,000 scale

Clearlygeneralised

Largest scale maps we produce

Small part of our portfolio


GIS Ireland 2012

For us GIS often looks like this1:1,000,000 scale

Still includes standard map elements

Partial coverage


GIS Ireland 2012

Or sometimes like this1:5,000,000 scale

Largest scale with global coverage

Cartographic specification applied in ArcMAP


GIS Ireland 2012

Flagship product, Times Comp: map scales123 reference maps, by scale

1:1m 19 maps1:1.25m 8 maps1:1.5m 2 maps1:2.5m 34 maps1:2.75m 2 maps1:3m 2maps1:5m 32maps1:6m 1 map1:8m 2 maps1:9m 2 maps1:10m 4 maps1:12.5m 2 maps1:15m 3 maps1:20m 3 maps1:22.5m 3 maps1:40m 2 maps1:60m 2 maps


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Flagship product, Times Comp: thematic maps26 plates of thematic material, including > 60 maps


GIS Ireland 2012

Specific issues in using GIS at small scales:

Features appear at multiple scales

The data we use and where we get it from

Data structures and feature coding

What accuracy means for small scale reference mapping

Cartography is the end point (for printed maps at least)


GIS Ireland 2012

Features appear at multiple scales, e.g. Dublin World map 1:60m Europe map 1:12.5m

UK & Ireland map 1:2.5m Ireland map 1:1m


GIS Ireland 2012

The data we use and where we get it from: Increasing choice of ‘large’ scale data, more available for free

• National Survey [OS open data in GB]• Open source [Open Street Map]• Commercial [Nokia/Navteq, Tom Tom/TeleAtlas]

No readily available ‘world atlas’ scale data

•VMap0 , VMap1 – questions over currency•Commercially available data sets – not optimised for cartography

So, we’ve built our own


GIS Ireland 2012

The data we use and where we get it from: Collins Bartholomew digital vector map databases

• British Isles at 1:250k• 50% of the world at 1:1m or 1:2m• Global coverage at 1:5m

Embody our own editorial policies

Build from best, most authoritative sources

At least 100 man years to create and maintain


GIS Ireland 2012

Data structures and feature coding: Complex feature coding to support multiple cartographic specs

Independent from surface design, but embodies knowledge of how feature must appear on different types of map

• Codes for boundaries through water• Intersecting hierarchies for river codes• Over 100 codes for linear water features

Primary river A Primary river A through dry lake/salt panPrimary river A through lake APrimary river A through lake BPrimary river A through lake Cetc…


GIS Ireland 2012

What accuracy means for small scale atlas mapsSpatial accuracy important – things need to be in the right place


GIS Ireland 2012

What accuracy means for small scale atlas mapsBut also need to be sure we’re showing the right things


GIS Ireland 2012

What accuracy means for small scale atlas mapsBut also need to be sure we’re showing the right things

GUINEA: ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS Summary of the system Guinea is subdivided for administrative purposes in several ways, and some uncertainty over the years regarding what these differences signify, along with some changes in designations and regional systems, has sometimes led to leading information sources giving mutually inconsistent interpretations, or changing their view. The true 1st-order local government system, however, is broadly agreed to be a set of 34 divisions, of which 33 are Prefectures (Préfectures in French). The designation of these as Regions was discontinued some years ago. The remaining division (covering the area round the national capital, Conakry) is described as a Municipality, or as a ‘Special Zone’ - or more formally as the ‘National Capital Special Zone’. There is also a set of seven higher regions: these are usually called Governorates (Gouvernorats). They represent a central planning and statistical arrangement rather than being true administrative divisions as such in the usual sense of local service-providing authorities.


GIS Ireland 2012

What accuracy means for small scale atlas mapsWhat’s right for one user may not be right for another


GIS Ireland 2012



GIS Ireland 2012



GIS Ireland 2012

What accuracy means for small scale atlas maps Issues of cartographic generalisation

• Selection• Simplification• Exaggeration • Displacement

All maps are an extraction of reality, so these issues persist at all scales

The smaller the scale the greater the level of abstraction


GIS Ireland 2012

What accuracy means for small scale atlas mapsCartographic displacement and simplification

GIS Data Symbology applied to linework

Lines displacedBuildings simplifiedIs it still accurate?


GIS Ireland 2012

For us cartography is always the end point We use GIS as part of our map production flow line

Editorial policy and decision making informs the contents of our GIS databases

Databases specifically designed to produce quality maps

Authority valued by customers who need trusted picture of the world

Digital data as well as printed maps


GIS Ireland 2012

So let’s end with some maps

Jim IrvineCollins Geo, HarperCollins Publishers

[email protected]

Documents

Jim Irvine Head of Digital Resources and the Collins Newsroom Collins Geo Division HarperCollins Publishers