Geographical Resource

Government Chapter (of the NationalAtlas)

By Heather Braum

BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

U.S. Department of the Interior. (2006, March 14). Government Chapter (of the National Atlas). Retrieved May 1, 2007, from http://www.nationalatlas.gov/government.html

PURPOSE

This website provides access to government/politically-related maps produced by the Department of the Interior of the United States government. It has been published so any citizen of the United States will be able to use it. This particular website links to more politically-related maps, including maps of congressional districts on a national and state level, political affiliations, presidential election results, etc.

AUTHORITY

The US Department of the Interior is the sponsoring agency for the website. The NationalAtlas is a trademark of this agency. The NationalAtlas.gov portal was designed in 1997, when Congress authorized a new national atlas. Instead of printing the atlas, The USGS led 20 federal agencies to create an electronic version of the atlas that is continually updated. This is especially beneficial as census data changes with each Census. For the government section, the atlas includes maps to the 109th congressional districts and political party affiliations.

SCOPE

All maps are available at the national and state levels. But the section also links to other special maps. Printable maps, wall maps, and dynamic maps are all available. The maps available appeal to all ages, as they are easily readable and understandable.

FORMAT

As the maps are available in various types and formats, they are proper for their intended audience. The printable maps are all available in PDF format and downloadable. There is also a mapmaker for all the available maps, where users can select the criteria that they want for the map. It is very user-interactive.

ARRANGEMENT

There are links off of this webpage to all the maps available that are government-related, as well as links to the rest of the types and subjects of the available maps. There is a sitemap that is available (http://www.nationalatlas.gov/sitemap.html) that indexes the website.

ENTRIES

The government section of the website specifically highlights the printable maps for congressional districts of the 109th Congress, federal lands and Indian reservations, presidential elections 1989-2000, and reference and outline maps of the United States. Other maps linked include National Wildlife Refuge System maps and historical county boundaries, among many of the various maps available. The government webpage of the NationalAtlas also links to the other various subjects and types of maps available through the NationalAtlas.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The mapmaker feature allows users to create their own maps. This can be useful for researchers and for classroom teachers. Students, even at a young age, can practice making their own maps for free using the online mapmaker through NationalAtlas.

USE

The printable maps can be used for printing and for reports, the wall maps can be ordered, and the interactive maps can be used for research and for student exploration of how maps are made. These maps can also be printed, although not downloaded, as they are not created in PDF format.  

CRITIQUE

The website is an brilliant concept and useful for all ages. For the intended audience of this evaluation, students of American government can come to it and find out political party affiliation of various counties and presidential election historical data. The maps are printable in PDF format. As the website is easy to navigate through the subject breakdowns at the top of each page and also through the sitemap, it is a great resource for government classes, especially since the resource is free for most uses.  

REFERENCES

U.S. Department of the Interior. (2006, March 14). Learn About the National Atlas. Retrieved May 2, 2007, from http://www.nationalatlas.gov/about.html