ABSTRACT
As micro-computer and graphic devices are becoming widespread, a great number of thematic mapping packages are being developed and marketed. There is a need to guide the user of micro-computer based mapping packages towards the production of cartographically acceptable products. This chapter discusses the system that provides such guidance and is a first step in the direction of a comprehensive tutorial system for the design of thematic maps. Only the choice of cartographic symbols based on cartographic principles and graphic semiology are considered. More and more non-cartographers are mapping with the help of cartographic packages. Expert systems are computer programs that use inference techniques, involving formal reasoning and utilising the expertize of a human expert to solve problems in a specific domain. At the present time, most expert systems should be more accurately called knowledge systems because they can not perform at the level of a human expert.
