CARTOGRAPHY – CLOSE TO USERS: A TECHNOLOGY FOR COMPILING OF SCHOOL ATLASES FOR EDUCATION ON GEOGRAPHY IN BULGARIA

T.L. Bandrova

University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia

bandrova_fgs@uacg.bg

 

The new vision in atlas compiling, creating and publishing is available in Bulgaria during the last 5-6 years. It comes in the situation of free market and company competition, the new economic and political situation, as well as the acceptance of the country in European Union.

The new atlases for education on geography are compiled after clear answer of the following questions:

Are there any reasons to change the exciting old Atlases?

Who are our users?

Do we have enough data base?

Do we have a team of experts?

Do we have any idea and program?

Do we have a technology for realization of our project?

How to get to our users?

Examples of experimental work with students, potential users of the atlases, are shown and discussed. The students’ ideas and works are used in the process of design and pre-publishing process of the presented cartographic products. Curriculum instructions and editorial advices are used in different levels of the proposed technology.

Using all above complex tasks for compiling and creating of cartographic products, 9 Atlases and 5 Outline maps are proposed for education in geography of students from 7 to 18 years old during all grades of Bulgarian education. All of them are improved for usage in Bulgarian schools by the Ministry of Education and Science.