Keywords
Citation
Cronau, D.A. (2001), "The Map Library in the New Millennium", The Electronic Library, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 352-356. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2001.19.5.352.5
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
This text is written for a broad global readership including map librarians, students of cartography and geography, GIS specialists, providers of spatial data, and researchers using spatial data. Its broad audience appeal is suitably matched by its broad coverage including:
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the changing profile of the map user
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organizational change
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new technologies in the map room
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geographical information systems (GIS)
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electronic map packages
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the Internet and the World Wide Web
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metadata and standards
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digital conservation and conversion
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access to maps and spatial data
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spatial data and intellectual property rights
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the new mapping industry
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map dealing.
The contributors to this volume are authoritative and from around the planet making the perspective truly global. Each of the 17 chapters, by different writers, deals with the issues listed above, but one of the biggest selling points for this title is the way that technology and its present and future implications are addressed. Chapter titles such as “Maps and the Internet”, “Is there a Future for the Map Library?” and “New Technologies in the Map Room” address modern concerns about the Internet anachronising map rooms while other chapters such as “The Changing Profile of the Map User”, “Perspectives on Map Use and Map Users in the Digital Era” and “A Map User’s Perspective” put faces to the customer. Other intriguing and thought‐provoking chapters include “Metadata and Standards: Confusion or Convergence?”, “Old Maps in a Modern World”, and “Taking Care of Business: Map Libraries and the New Mapping Industry”.
One of the best things about this book is its coverage. It examines the whole topic, making it a must for so many people in the mapping world. The international team of experts present lively, stimulating views on contemporary issues – highly relevant to any re‐examination of mapping facilities and the new, adaptive role for map collection curators in providing control of electronic data and guidance on its use.
Supporting all this is a very well catered general index and list of acronyms. Bibliographies support each chapter and vary in size and content, some providing Web page addresses. Chapters are around ten pages in length, in clear type with appropriate and helpful use of bold font. Web addresses and chapter sub‐headings stand out clearly in the bold font chosen. There is ample use of paragraph headings making this an easy‐to‐use reference resource. Figures and graphs are selectively used and beautifully reproduced and labelled, making them easy to use and very supportive to the text.
All in all a great resource and a must‐have for anybody working with maps or anybody just interested in them!