Web mapping: Difference between revisions

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{{more footnotes|date = February 2011}}

[[File:Smartphone with navigation map app.jpg|thumb|right|A web map app in a [[smart phone]]]]

'''Web mapping''' or an '''online mapping''' is the process of using [[map]]s, usually created through [[Geographic Information Systems|geographic information systems]] (GIS) on the [[Internet]], more specifically in the [[World Wide Web]] (the Web).<ref name=Fu1>{{cite book |last1=Fu |first1=Pinde |last2=Sun |first2=Jiulin |title=Web GIS: Principles and Applications |year=2011 |___location=Redlands, Calif. |publisher=ESRI Press |isbn=978-1-58948-245-6 |oclc=587219650 |url=https://archive.org/details/webgisprinciples0000fupi |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name=Fu2>{{cite book |last1=Fu |first1=Pinde |title=Getting to Know Web GIS |year=2016 |___location=Redlands, Calif. |publisher=ESRI Press |edition=2 |isbn=9781589484634 |oclc=928643136 |url=https://archive.org/details/gettingtoknowweb0000fupi |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name=Zhang1>{{cite book |last1=Zhang |first1=Chuanrong |last2=Zhao |first2=Tian |last3=Li |first3=Weidong |title=Geospatial Semantic Web |year=2015 |___location=Cham |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-17800-4 |oclc=911032733 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-17801-1|s2cid=63154455 }}</ref> A web map or an online map is both served and consumed, thus, web mapping is more than just web [[cartography]], it is a service where consumers may choose what the map will show.<ref>Parker, C.J., May, A. and Mitchell, V. (2013), “[https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/bitstream/2134/10350/8/(Manuscript)%20The%20Role%20Of%20VGI%20And%20PGI%20In%20Supporting%20Outdoor%20Activities%20(repository).pdf The role of VGI and PGI in supporting outdoor activities]”, Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 44 No. 6, pp. 886–94.</ref>

== Introduction ==

The advent of web mapping can be regarded as a major new trend in cartography. Until recently, cartography was restricted to a few [[:Category:Map companies|companies]], institutes and [[:Category:National cartographic agencies|mapping agencies]], requiring relatively expensive and complex hardware and software as well as skilled cartographers and [[geomatics]] engineers.

Web mapping has brought many geographical datasets, including free ones generated by [[OpenStreetMap]] and proprietary datasets owned by [[Here (company)|HERE]], [[Petal Maps|Huawei]], [[Google]], [[Tencent]], [[TomTom]], and others. A range of [[:category:Free GIS software|free software to generate maps]] has also been conceived and implemented alongside proprietary tools like [[ArcGIS]]. As a result, the [[barrier to entry]] for serving maps on the web has been lowered.