While digital maps are made up of bits and bytes, they share a number of things in common with their paper and ink cousins — like datums, coordinates systems, scales, legends, and compass roses. In fact if you get some of these concepts down, which hopefully you will after reading this part, you’ll be at home with just about any map you encounter, whether it’s displayed on your PC’s monitor or laying on the front seat of your car. Paper maps have a certain old school charm, but digital maps are infinitely cooler. That’s because you can associ-ate data with a digital map and make it interactive and smart. This part sets the stage for other chapters in the book. We’re going to be talking about all sorts of PC, Web-based, and GPS maps, and it’s important that you under-stand the basics of how digital maps work and what types of digital maps are out there; especially the free ones available on the Internet.
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