National Geographic Site Maps the World

By: Charles Bowen One of the first great applications of the Web was online mapmaking. Of course, some of the early efforts would look fairly comical by today's standards. Cyberspace pioneers used to amuse themselves nightly by asking Web-based street map sites for directions to places they already knew, such as their own houses, and then chortled over the meandering courses those early artificially intelligent products would construct.

But in the last few years, some serious cartographers have gotten wired, not the least of which is the mother of all mapmakers, National Geographic. Actually, the Geographic has been Web-worldly for a decade or so, but this venerated globe trotter hasn't been content to stay put with those early efforts. Now its latest configuration includes one of the best mapping facilities you'll find anywhere on the Internet.

Its Map Machine lets you see the world in new ways, from the street maps of North America and Europe to historical maps of railroads and battles, as well as assorted physical, political, cultural, and panoramic maps. Shoot, there's even a terrain map of Mars.

Visit http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/, where an introductory screen presents a world map that allows you to zoom in and out and navigate north, south, east, and west using arrow buttons on the borders. Options at the left of the screen provide map categories, including:

* World Themes, such as physical, political and cultural, and climate and weather.

* U.S. Themes, among them, culture, politics, weather, 2000 Census, population, employment, and housing.

* Street Maps for the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

* Atlas Maps for the world by continent and by ocean.

* Historical Maps, such as railroads, explorations, battles, and panoramic.

* And miscellaneous categories, such as Flags and Facts, Mars, and "Wild World" with ecological themes.

The site also supports a nifty search feature. Locate the data-entry box labeled "Find a Place" on the left of the screen and enter, say, a city and state. The site then opens a new browser window listing any occurrences of that search string. If your location is listed, click the link and back in the main window, the MapMachine generates a map of the location. Use the "Zoom In" and "Zoom Out" and directional buttons at the edges of the graphic to position the map as you wish.

Other considerations for using MapMachine in your writing and editing:

1. The site makes it easy to save and/or e-mail the maps it generates. Simply select the map you want to see, then use the zoom and navigational options to position it as you wish. After you have the map you want on the screen, select from the "My Maps" section on the right side of the screen and either "E-Mail This View" or "Save This View."

2. But before you mail or save, you might want to personalize a map. The "Customize My Map" option in the "My Maps" section enables you to add text and symbols, such as those for airports, forests, schools, and more.

3. Of course, National Geographic's site has more than maps. To visit the main site, enter http://nationalgeographic.com, where you find material from current and back issues of the printed publication as well as material unique to its online incarnation, including materials for kids, parents, students, and teachers.
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