The Atlas of Switzerland as an Interactive Multimedia Atlas Information System

Abstract

The idea to establish nation-wide thematic atlases for scientific and political purposes has been discussed in the geographic community since the beginning of this century. It was only in the late fifties that Salishchev and Lehmann developed a concept under the auspices of the Commission on National Atlases of the International Geographical Union, which served as a base for several national atlases in Europe (Ormeling 1994). It follows geographical, nation-oriented guidelines using a defined sequence of descriptive thematic maps.