Maps are very important. Everyone understands and appreciates good cards. GIS users create maps and work with them every day: they provide a learning gissolution interface. Maps are also the primary way that users share their work with others. Maps provide critical context as they can be used for analysis and still be works of art. Maps universally convey information and clarify the shapes of our world. Maps allow you to explore data to identify new objects and interpret them.
Anyone can create a virtual GIS map using Web GIS and publish it so that everyone can see it. These maps bring GIS to life and can be taken with you on smartphones or tablets. Online cards have changed the internet forever.
Undoubtedly, traditional printed cards remain with us. They are still very important because they can be used to quickly get the broader context of a problem or situation. The best examples of printed cards are true works of art that can stir your senses. Nothing beats a large-format document that conveys and organizes a huge amount of information so efficiently – and so beautifully. GIS cartographers will continue their work creating stunning printable maps.
And it will always be so. Large format printed maps and their digital cousins (eg PDF) will still be produced by highly skilled cartographers. The difference is that the GIS toolkit has taken professional cartography to the next level.
Meanwhile, a major online cartographic revolution is taking place, the consequences of which are very serious. We all know that cards have become ubiquitous on smartphones and on the internet. Mapping applications regularly rank among the most used programs for smartphones and mobile devices. Online maps have taught millions of people how to work with maps, and this huge worldwide audience is ready to apply maps in their work in the most creative ways, using Web GIS.
GIS maps target different audiences
Any map you create can be saved and published as a web map, in accordance with the target audience and purpose. Online maps have a user interface that comes with each map, called an app. With the ArcGIS platform, the user (which you become by reading this tutorial and joining the Learn ArcGIS organization) has a variety of options for creating and embedding useful maps and apps. The possibilities for drawing people’s attention to your work are truly endless.
Mapping continues to evolve
All maps, starting with the very first, served to save and transmit geographic data through a visual representation of reality. In this way, they engage both the creative and logical aspects of our thinking; they are beautiful, but they are logically associated with a specific location.
The best maps unlock the potential of the relevant data. Although the creators of the examples on this page hardly thought about secure ports and land tenure, this important information is nevertheless easy to read on maps. While this book focuses primarily on modern digital maps, it is important to understand that good maps apply information presentation principles that have evolved over the centuries.
Why GIS Works
GIS maps are popular because they display information about things and phenomena that are important to people. All the cards presented here to some extent develop the subject of their research, raise it to a new level, intriguing and inspiring their users.
The Role of GIS Maps
Basically, web maps are very simple.
Web maps are online maps created in Spatial Services that allow you to work and interact with geographic information organized in layers. They are published to your organization on the Internet and run on smartphones and tablets. Each web map contains a basemap, as well as a number of additional data layers, plus tools for working with those layers. These tools can do simple things, like pop-ups when you click on a map, or more complex things, like doing spatial analysis and telling you where you can stock up on healthy food nearby.
Basically, web maps are very simple. Start with an underlay map and add your own or other people’s data layers to it. Then add additional tools that will support what users need from your map: tell stories, do analytical research; collect data in the field or track and manage certain operations.
Maps are an effective means of deploying your GIS
Almost anything that can be done in a GIS can be published via web maps. And they penetrate everywhere. Web maps work in real time on any smartphone, support your work in GIS, and are always available.
Web map properties
Continuity and multiscale
Web maps work on many scales at once. Zoom in to see more details and details. Online maps allow you to move the map and change its scale. They literally have no boundaries: you can move the map and zoom in anywhere. Even if you don’t have work data for a specific area, the basemap always remains.
Popup windows
Web maps are windows in an abundance of information. Click on the map for a pop-up window to appear reporting the information behind that location. Pop-ups allow you to extract more information from the map upon request. This means that a single map view window can also open up a whole world of related information, including charts, photographs, media files, and other map layers. The ability to link such a huge amount of resources on a map has changed the way we think about maps. They evolved from static data storage into dynamic vessels of information.