I've always liked maps, and sometimes when reading fiction (in the real world, not fantasy) or non-fiction, I miss a map of the zone where the story is set up, so I can see where the cities, rivers, etc. are.

So... what would you think of an atlas for ebook readers? Can you produce any ideas on the format and interface? I was thinking that maybe having a world map with links (in text, below the image) to continents, then maps of continents with links to countries, and maybe links to further divisions for large countries, would be fine enough at first. The maps would not be incredibly detailed, just borders, main cities (perhaps rivers)...

Is there any project around? Source for the maps? Comments?

PS. I'm not sure I will make this, but if no one else does, I may bite the bullet.

That's a great idea! I'm not sure where you'd get public domain maps from, though, I'm afraid.

From the blank maps in Wikipedia, I managed to do this. Now only cities, rivers, mountains and sea names (and scale, and latitude/longitude, and compass...) are missing :D

that is a brilliant idea !! i love maps as well and am constantly consulting google maps to check something... i would love to have an atlas on my liseuse. i will see if i can find any pd maps around. i can't think of any off the top of my head but you never know...

Interesting idea - though I don't know how it's going to translate into b&w.

(Just a small niggle, Northern Ireland isn't part of Great Britain)..

(Just a small niggle, Northern Ireland isn't part of Great Britain)..

A fact which about 1% of people who actually live in Great Britain are probably aware of, other than smart-alecs like you and me :).

Hay ! Fame at last - I'm a smart-alec ......like Harry..... :2thumbsup

(Just a small niggle, Northern Ireland isn't part of Great Britain)..

Believe me, I know, but according to ISO (http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/iso_3166_code_lists/english_country_names_and_code_elements.htm), the 2-letter code for the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is GB (and not UK). Also, the channel islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom (nor of Great Britain, of course), and they are coloured yellow... that's why in the legend I'll put "United Kindom (and dependencies)". In spite of this, the CIA maps label these islands as "(U.K.)". ;)

A fact which about 1% of people who actually live in Great Britain are probably aware of, other than smart-alecs like you and me :).

Aren't smart-alecs part of that 1%?

Believe me, I know, but according to ISO (http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/iso_3166_code_lists/english_country_names_and_code_elements.htm), the 2-letter code for the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is GB (and not UK). Also, the channel islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom (nor of Great Britain, of course), and they are coloured yellow... that's why in the legend I'll put "United Kindom (and dependencies)". In spite of this, the CIA maps label these islands as "(U.K.)". ;)

That's why I say that it's one of those "technical" things that nobody actually gives too hoots about in practice. Although it is officially "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", in reality, people use "GB" and "UK" interchangeably and, as you say, the ISO country code is "GB", not "UK".

The Channel Islands are not even in the EU, by the way. No VAT there!

Aren't smart-alecs part of that 1%?

Yes. Sorry if I was unclear about that :).

Ohhhh!

I love that idea! Very often I've wanted to look at a map, when I didn't have one handy (but I always have my PDA handy...)

That's a great idea! I'm not sure where you'd get public domain maps from, though, I'm afraid.

I suggest you start here: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/

Dale

Not actually an atlas, but it does have maps of all countries:
CIA World Factbook (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26872) (EPUB)

Not actually an atlas, but it does have maps of all countries:
CIA World Factbook (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26872) (EPUB)

And already in ebook form for:
CIA: The World Factbook 2005 (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=156623#post156623) (.prc) or CIA: The World Factbook 2005 (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=145465#post145465) (.imp for REB1200) :)

Hmm, maybe I should mention this to the company I'm working with at the moment... It's one of the most famous atlas creators (at least, here, in the Netherlands). They've experience with creating atlases for over 130 years :D

(over 10 million copies sold so far, not bad!)


(the latest edition: the atlas of the Netherlands, has 560 pages and 2400 maps... it's a magnificent work, they have it on display in the hallway here...)

Hmm, maybe I should mention this to the company I'm working with at the moment... It's one of the most famous atlas creators (at least, here, in the Netherlands). They've experience with creating atlases for over 130 years :D

(over 10 million copies sold so far, not bad!)


(the latest edition: the atlas of the Netherlands, has 560 pages and 2400 maps... it's a magnificent work, they have it on display in the hallway here...)

oh, drool !!!! i love maps.

Use Open Street Map for maps with creative commons license:

http://www.openstreetmap.org/

oh, drool !!!! i love maps.

Me too! And I will be buying the new Atlas of the World that'll be coming out soon.

A couple of maps generated with GMT (http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt/gmt_home.html) (generic map tools), withe the GLOBE (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/topo/gltiles.html) elevation data. I've just discovered these tools, and there is much to tweak in order to make it usable in an e-ink reader, but at least there is a way to obtain free maps :D

So... what would you think of an atlas for ebook readers? Can you produce any ideas on the format and interface? I was thinking that maybe having a world map with links (in text, below the image) to continents, then maps of continents with links to countries, and maybe links to further divisions for large countries, would be fine enough at first. The maps would not be incredibly detailed, just borders, main cities (perhaps rivers)....

My thoughts: for most ebook readers, this is a so-so idea. Most ebook reader screens are not suitable to display maps which require some expanse. Probably it would do okay on one of the iLiads but not for something like the Kindle 2, Sony PRS-700 which is typical of the size of most ebook readers.

I've done a proof of concept. Just created some topographical maps (no political borders, no labels) with GMT and added simple HTML navigation. Below each map there are 4 arrows for movement, ⊗ to zoom in and ∴ to zoom out (only two zoom levels: 90 and 30 degrees). If this is going to work in a b&w screen the colour palette should be modified (not difficult, just a matter of re-running the scripts) and maybe the quality reduced, this is taking already 14MB, and I'd like to go down to 10 or 5 degrees resolution...

Anyway, the zipped HTML and images are available at http://djelibeibi.unex.es/files/map.zip
Remember, this intended to be viewed in a browser, not in a portable reader (yet).

Did you ever proceed with your idea of an ebook atlas, Jellby?

Not much farther. I created the topographical maps at 90, 30 and 10 degrees, black and white, and split in land relief and ocean bottom relief... I should at least publish the files, but it was going to be huge (~90MB). I also wanted to give it some ePUB wrapper.

Yes, size is obviously the issue for such a project!

Just to show where I stand, I made a quick ePUB version for the colour maps (so, they don't look good on eink screens). It's 88MB, the b/w version would be almost double size. You (all) can test it and tell me if it's worth to publish this and if the "interface" is usable.

Below each map there are four arrows for displacement, the symbol in the center is for zooming in, the symbol in the top-left is for zooming out.

This is the file: http://djelibeibi.unex.es/files/World%20Map.epub (88MB)

Doh! :smack: Silly me, I was using the 100%-quality JPGs generated in the process. I've now created a much more manageable file, with maps at 75% quality.

http://djelibeibi.unex.es/files/World%20Map%2075.epub (23MB)

I can probably make a Mobipocket map book from the source images. May I?

Ooh, Ooh, I got dibs on the .imp versions... ;)

I can probably make a Mobipocket map book from the source images. May I?

I have the basic mobipocket framework already done. I think the main problems I found are:

- Since mobipocket does not support font embedding, I could not reliably use the symbols in the "navigation pad".

- I don't remember I could find a way to center the tables horizontally.

For the symbols, I could use images, but MobiPerl (which I use to generate the .mobi) includes the same images multiple times, and with Calibre I would not have the same degree of control over the resulting .mobi

I have the basic mobipocket framework already done. I think the main problems I found are:

- Since mobipocket does not support font embedding, I could not reliably use the symbols in the "navigation pad".

- I don't remember I could find a way to center the tables horizontally.

For the symbols, I could use images, but MobiPerl (which I use to generate the .mobi) includes the same images multiple times, and with Calibre I would not have the same degree of control over the resulting .mobi

If you don't mind, I'd like to see your framework. I've been thinking about how to do one for a while now.

- I don't remember I could find a way to center the tables horizontally.

I've NEVER solved that issue, and I tried all sorts of permutations and combinations using <div>, <p>, <span>, inline CSS, etc! :smack::smack:

In case I didn't say it, I'm interested in a solution too! :rolleyes:

For the symbols, I could use images, but MobiPerl (which I use to generate the .mobi) includes the same images multiple times, and with Calibre I would not have the same degree of control over the resulting .mobi

Sorry, why couldn't you use Mobipocket Creator (just this once :snicker: )! Even let Nate the great do it for you! ;)

Sorry, why couldn't you use Mobipocket Creator (just this once :snicker: )! Even let Nate the great do it for you! ;)

First, because I'm on linux :D

Second, I don't say I will never use it, I just have never used it and would prefer a solution that does not need it. That said, I also don't trust it, since I don't know what changes it might introduce to my code (like reducing images to below 61KB), and if I'm going that way, I'd choose Calibre ;)

First, because I'm on linux :D

Second, I don't say I will never use it, I just have never used it and would prefer a solution that does not need it. That said, I also don't trust it, since I don't know what changes it might introduce to my code (like reducing images to below 61KB), and if I'm going that way, I'd choose Calibre ;)

Have you looked at mobigen?

Have you looked at mobigen?

Hmm... not really, is it for linux? The webpage does not mention it.

Just to be clear. You are all welcome to do any conversion you want, the files and images are free to use, I only warn you this is still a work in progress (I'd like, at least, to add a page with some data about the maps and a "user guide"). :)

First, because I'm on linux :D

I knew that... :)

Second, I don't say I will never use it, I just have never used it and would prefer a solution that does not need it. That said, I also don't trust it, since I don't know what changes it might introduce to my code (like reducing images to below 61KB), and if I'm going that way, I'd choose Calibre ;)

I explode Mobipocket Creator prepared .prc ebooks all the time using Mobi2IMP and can tell you there is nothing to worry about, as the images therein do not get shrunk in the image filesize below the Palm-devices' contraint.

However, I do see weird behaviour on the software Mobipocket Reader when using calibre prepared .prc ebooks and only use Mobipocket Creator for creating same. :2thumbsup

:bulb2: Why not just experiment on a duplicate copy of your files and this way, if it's not to you're liking, just delete that scratch copy! :)

Try it, you might like it... ;)