ABSTRACT
Whether it is paper or digital maps we refer to, they all play the role of interface, either between ourselves and the landscape, or between ourselves and geographical information systems (GISs) that contain information on that landscape. Maps not only play a role in the exploration and analysis of spatial data, but also in showing a synthesis of the analysis of those spatial data, for communication purposes.
GISs will allow us to take the analysis of spatial data (traditionally contained in a map, but now almost wholly in digital form), a step further, provided that the quality of the data allows that. If that is the case, geographical analysis operations can be effectuated in GISs, with a scope and a speed unheard of in traditional map analysis. As an example, Dutch municipality of Maastricht is used to show how such digital analyses work. The spatial data to analyse in such GISs are increasingly provided through a country’s spatial data infrastructure.
A final section puts the cartographic education, which is needed to enable students to interact with spatial data and GISs, into context.
