Development of an internet atlas of Switzerland

Abstract Since mid-1996 an Internet atlas of Switzerland has been developed at the Institute of Cartography. It has been designed to complement the multimedia atlas which has been developed at the same institute for about three years. The concept of the Internet atlas is to combine several elements of the multimedia atlas with the advantages of the Internet (interactivity, availability, easy updating). The development of the Internet atlas has been divided into two phases. In the first phase the development of the multimedia atlas should be completed. Existing solutions will be adapted to the Internet and its peculiarities and more adaptive multimedia functions will be developed. Furthermore the Internet atlas will link to the multimedia atlas which should enable a higher degree of awareness. In the second phase of development, the Internet atlas should become an independent product. The special advantages of the Internet will be considered and by connecting actual data and external links a high degree of content could be reached. As opposed to other existing Internet atlases or interactive map servers not only will self-designed maps be made available but also georeferenced data, such as statistics, maps, pictures and text will be presented using a uniform graphic user interface.