Evaluating and Comparing Digital Geospatial
Publishing Tools
Author: Kevin Royal
M.S. in Geographic Information Science
Department of Geology and Geography
March 2009
Abstract
Geopublishing is a new branch of Geographic Information Science. Similar to desktop publishing, geopublishing has special requirements in the way that the layouts are published as a digital atlas. This requires tools that allow an atlas designer to assemble large spatial data sets in a way that is easy for the intended audience to use. ArcView and TNTview were used to assemble three pairs of nearly identical atlases to evaluate how well the assembled atlases met publishing cost, view only or digital paper, interactive, analytical, and annotating - republishing criteria. ArcReader and TNTatlas were both able to meet the geopublishing criteria, but the combination of TNTview - TNTatlas allowed for more interactive, analytical, and republishing options at a lower cost. Using these expanded capabilities is dependent on the end users willingness to ask and seek answers to their own GIS questions and access the training needed to make use of the tools available.
