GIS and Web Map Concepts | About Web-based Maps

About Web-Based Maps

Paper maps tell you a few things about something on the map but web-based maps are far more powerful, as they allow you to interact with them.

Some of the ways you can interact with a web-based map include:

Pan and zoom to areas of interest.
Search for specific features on a map.
Display additional information about the features shown on a map.
Measure the length and area of features.
Make annotations on a map.
Save a specific map with annotations to use later.
Print and create reports on features and information contained within the map.
Share your map with others.

As different as this is from a paper-based map, it is just the beginning. Because a web-based map is a computerized map, it is possible to perform complex tasks using the information inside them. Previously, these complex tasks were only possible for people trained to use geographic information systems (GIS) but the arrival of web-based maps like Google and Bing maps has brought this information into the mainstream. So now, instead of using a paper-based map that only tells you a few things about each feature on a map, a GIS can tell you hundreds.