Fully Automated Cartography: A Major Transition at the Census Bureau

Abstract

The requirement to fully automate the Census Bureau's mapping activities became a reality once the commitment was made to develop the TIGER System. The transition from traditional to automated mapping for the 1990 decennial census follows a century of developments by the Census Bureau in the field of cartography. Automation changed map user expectations from a willingness to endure a single cartographic base that was multi-purpose to demanding unique map types to support each of the various operations for the 1990 decennial census. Development of a noninteractive map production system was the only feasible course of action if the Census Bureau were to succeed in producing 1.3 million unique map sheets within a three-year period. Implementation of the automated mapping system affected every aspect of the mapmaking process, from the organizational structure of the mapping office to staffing, from map source collection to feature classification, from film-base techniques for mapping to the creation of cartographic images an computer plat files. The repetitious cycle of "test, implement, and refine" resulted in designs that led to a fully automated field map production system.