As with the other themes, the conference included a tutorial session which looked in more detail at the underlying technologies. Traditionally, mapping of Census data has been a specialist activity, requiring a large investment of time and a steep learning curve. Donald Morse introduced the digitized boundary and map data and census statistics which are available to academics in the UK and how to get them. The theme of spatial data was included in this strand of the conference where computer graphics tools can help in the understanding of change. Humphrey Southall from Queen Mary and Westfield College presented the work he is leading to develop an electronic atlas of Britain.
Traditional atlases are expensive.
Even those which have relatively high sales volumes fall into this category and those of more academic interest often have limited, if any, colour. Yet colour is important in representation and is something which is easy to use in computer mapping. Also, even the most sumptuous full colour traditional atlas has problems presenting geographical complexity and change. Formats from GIFs for still images to VRML for complex, dynamic, highly interactive displays will be used. The QMW team are developing the use of cartograms.