Territorial evolution of Canada - An interactive multimedia cartographic presentation

Abstract

The Territorial Evolution of Canada is one of the early examples of multimedia cartographic applications (Siekierska 1996). The animation of the changes of the boundaries gives a complete, easy to comprehend picture of the territorial evolution within Canada, one which could not be easily visualized from a static map in a conventional cartographic presentation. A hypermedia organization of information permits the user to access it in an intuitive way, guided by interests and previous knowledge of the subject. Multimedia, multi-channel communication facilitates the easy assimilation of large amounts of information, making learning with multimedia products an interesting experience. The cartographic elements of the product such as colours, text placement, frame transition and generalization suitability for smaller size monitors could be further improved, if time allowed. On the other hand, the product is one of the early examples of complete multimedia cartography (with still and animated images, text, sound, video, narration), operates in both stand-alone and interactive mode, provides very intuitive and unrestricted navigation, it has zero learning time, and it is integrated with the school curriculum. The final version of the product was produced in cooperation with the private sector. The CD-ROM product is currently distributed by the Mapping Services Branch, Geomatics Canada, Ministry of Natural Resources. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.