• Maps and the Internet
  
• Time line of Internet GIS development
  
• Approaches
  
• Table comparing approaches
  

Maps and the Internet

The Internet and the World Wide Web have provided an easier and cheaper way of delivering geographical information to a wider audience than printing a large number of paper maps. In this technological age, however, the average Internet user is not restricted viewing online 'static' maps of an exact location, as they were just a few years ago. The user can now delve into the realms of interactive mapping or Internet GIS.

 
1. Static maps e.g. GIF, JPEG (Example map of Vancouver's visible minorities).  
2. Changing maps e.g. weather maps that are constantly updated (CNN).  
3. Interactive maps created on-the-fly by the user (ArcData).  
4. Maps performing spatial analysis e.g. proximity, containment, networking (City of Sacramento).  
5. Maps performing geo-processing e.g. hill-shading, projection (ESRI).

This project will be concentrating primarily on the higher-end types of maps. These are maps that can be created according to specific user specifications and allow spatial analysis. It is this spatial analysis, after all, that separates Internet GIS from simple Internet mapping.

Approaches

One decision that must be made is whether a client-side or sever-side approach is taken. With 'server-side' Internet GIS most of the processing load is on the server. The role of the client computer is to display information. The server is responsible for everything else. This is also known as a 'thin-client' approach and, because the client's web browser is required to perform only basic browser functions, no web users have constrained access.

With 'client-side' Internet GIS (i.e. use of dedicated products or Java applets) some GIS capabilities are transferred to the client and data is processed locally. For example, specific GIS software (e.g. ArcExplorer) can be used, or Java Applets delivered on demand or installed, residing permanently on the client computer. There are a wide number of software vendors to be chosen from, as the software page on this site testifies.

Foote & Kirvan (1997) outlined the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches. A tabular summary of this information is provided here.

Conclusions