Geomedia
Presentation and information media for the representation and transmission of geographic information are referred to as geomedia .
definition
From an etymological point of view, two words need to be clarified. First there is the prefix geo . It comes from the Greek and means "earth". It stands for the spatial reference and is used in this sense in many terms such as geography or geology . Medium , coming from Latin, means in the original something that is in the "middle". Among other uses of the word, medium is to be understood in connection with the prefix geo as a conveyer of spatial information. This essentially includes audiovisual media (TV), the Internet and multimedia authoring systems (Geomedia AG).
The Federal Agency for Civic Education summarizes the term media as a "collective term for all audiovisual means and processes for the distribution of information, images, news, etc. The mass media include in particular the press (newspapers, magazines), radio (radio, television). and increasingly also the Internet ”(Schubert and Klein 2006).
All of these media are suitable for communicating spatial data. Ie all media can act as geomedia. The list of applications is long: city maps and route planning can be used on the Internet, maps show the scene of events in newspapers and TV news, virtual globes (e.g. Google Earth ) guide you through a world under the influence of climate change or through the architecture of modern living environments. Until well into the 20th century, maps and atlases were reserved to serve as a basis, to orientate oneself and to explain spatial phenomena. Today almost the entire variety of media can be used for this.
The term geomedia can be referred to as cartography or, in a broader sense, as geographic information using all available media. An analysis shows that geomedia cannot exist without the basics and knowledge of cartography. There is a close relationship between geomedia and cartography. The geomedia are not to be understood as a further development of classical cartography, but as a crucial part of it.
Using geomedia therefore requires a wide range of skills: cartographic craft or skills and a very good knowledge of technical systems. This includes a variety of different software products from the areas of print, audio, video, internet, location based services , remote sensing , geobrowser and geographic information systems (GIS). The digital media occupy a special position. In addition to the PC, PDAs, iPods, cell phones and navigation devices serve as output devices. These information media have been spreading increasingly for years. The increasing storage capacities and growing interest in geodata require increasingly professional visualization. With all the variety of output media, it should not be forgotten that a lot of geodata is also printed out at the end. The classic card has become rarer, but the focus is on the individual one-off. In order for the map to be of high quality, it must also be created by a professional.
Ultimately, it is crucial that the geodata are implemented in a way that is understandable in terms of content, cartographically correct, appealing and informative in terms of media. Graphical, visual aspects and technically flawless work are just as important as content-related precision.
literature
- D. Boles, M. Schlattmann: Multimedia authoring systems - graphically interactive tools for creating multimedia applications. In: LOG IN. 18. Vol. 1, 1998, pp. 10-18. ISSN 0720-8642 .
- Klaus Schubert, Martina Klein: The Political Lexicon. 7th, updated Edition. Dietz, Bonn 2018. (bpb.de)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Multimedia presentation and information media including audio, video, animations, texts and graphics (Boles, D., Schlattmann, M. (1998): Multimedia authoring systems)
- ^ Klaus Schubert, Martina Klein: Das Politiklexikon. 4th, updated Edition. Dietz, Bonn 2006.