Collins Bartholomew case study - Esri

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Collins Bartholomew GIS Enables Publisher to Update World Atlas in Record Time CHALLENGE Leading cartographic publisher needed to update world atlas accurately and in a timely manner. RESULTS • It produced a comprehensive atlas in less time than ever before. • It used time saved to increase product offerings from map data. • Incremental revenue from new products amounted to US$5 million. Along with being one of the world’s leading cartographic publishers—publishing atlases and maps under its own Times and Collins brands—Collins Bartholomew is a leading provider of map products and geographic data to other publishers and commercial organizations and agencies throughout the world. Today employing more than 50 cartographers at its Glasgow, Scotland, and Cheltenham, England, offices, Collins Bartholomew is dedicated to providing the most accurate and up-to-date maps available. The Challenge Collins Bartholomew needed to find a more efficient means of updating The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, its reference atlas used across the globe. The atlas was a huge undertaking, needing to be constantly maintained and brought up-to-date to reflect physical changes of the earth as well as to present a balanced view of the geopolitical landscape. With a team of 50 cartographers and edits being made to the information on an average of every 3.5 minutes using a 24-hour-a-day feed, the publisher needed to find the best software for the job. The Solution After researching available technology solutions, Collins Bartholomew purchased ArcGIS ® Server and Maplex ® from ESRI for its cartographic needs. This solution allows Collins Bartholomew to automate, store, edit, and manage all its spatial data in one solution. ArcGIS facilitates production of many valuable analytic and cartographic products more efficiently than the company was able to before. Data stored in the geodatabase can be versioned, allowing multiple users to carry out simultaneous updates including long transactions. This prevents unnecessary locking of data layers or creation of superfluous copies of data. ArcGIS also provides access to the geodatabase, operating as the gateway to facilitate spatial data in a database management system and providing efficient storage of continuous map data with spatial searches and transaction locking. After the data is updated and edited in the geodatabase, cartographers use Maplex labeling software for text placement. Once a time-consuming and laborious process, labeling is now automated, and Collins Bartholomew has found it is completing this part of the mapmaking effort 90 percent faster. CASE STUDY Learn more at www.esri.com/maps . Maps in the new edition of the atlas retain the highly distinctive and widely respected Times style.

Transcript of Collins Bartholomew case study - Esri

Collins BartholomewGIS Enables Publisher to Update World Atlas in Record Time

CHALLENGE

Leading cartographic publisher needed to update world atlas accurately and in a timely manner.

RESULTS

• Itproducedacomprehensiveatlasinlesstimethaneverbefore.

• Itusedtimesavedtoincrease product offerings from map data.

• Incrementalrevenuefromnew products amounted to US$5 million.

Along with being one of the world’s leading cartographic publishers—publishing atlases and maps under its own Times and Collins™ brands—Collins Bartholomew™ is a leading provider of map products and geographic data to other publishers and commercial organizations and agencies throughout the world. Today employing more than 50 cartographers at its Glasgow, Scotland, and Cheltenham, England, offices, Collins Bartholomew is dedicated to providing the most accurate and up-to-date maps available.

The Challenge

Collins Bartholomew needed to find a more efficient means of updating The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, its reference atlas used across the globe. The atlas was a huge undertaking, needing to be constantly maintained and brought up-to-date to reflect physical changes of the earth as well as to present a balanced view of the geopolitical landscape. With a team of 50 cartographers and edits being made to the information on an average of every 3.5 minutes using a 24-hour-a-day feed, the publisher needed to find the best software for the job.

The Solution

After researching available technology solutions, Collins Bartholomew purchased ArcGIS® Server and Maplex® from ESRI for its cartographic needs. This solution allows Collins Bartholomew to automate, store, edit, and manage all its spatial data in one solution. ArcGIS facilitates production of many valuable analytic and cartographic products more efficiently than the company was able to before. Data stored in the geodatabase can be versioned, allowing multiple users to carry out simultaneous updates including long transactions. This prevents unnecessary locking of data layers or creation of superfluous copies of data.

ArcGIS also provides access to the geodatabase, operating as the gateway to facilitate spatial data in a database management system and providing efficient storage of continuous map data with spatial searches and transaction locking.

After the data is updated and edited in the geodatabase, cartographers use Maplex labeling software for text placement. Once a time-consuming and laborious process, labeling is now automated, and Collins Bartholomew has found it is completing this part of the mapmaking effort 90 percent faster.

CASE STUDY

Learn more at www.esri.com/maps.

Maps in the new edition of the atlas retain the highly distinctive and widely respected Times style.

Collins Bartholomew

Learn more at www.esri.com/maps.

ESRI SOFTWARE USED

ArcGISServerMaplex

HARDWARE AND

SOFTWARE USED

Oracle® databaseWindows® 2000 networkLarge format HP® Designjet® plotters

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Results

The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World epitomizes the beauty and power of geographic information system (GIS) software. Painstakingly researched by a dedicated team of cartographers, the atlas is fully up-to-date, stylish, and contemporary, continuing to be the leading authority with its selection of detailed maps and an index of more than 200,000 places and features.

Using ArcGIS, Collins Bartholomew produced the atlas in less than 12 months. This, in turn, gave it the flexibility to create new and innovative data offerings, expanding its overall product line to more than 200 products, with incremental revenue from the new products amounting to more than US$5 million. Data products include digital maps of the world, Great Britain, Europe, London, and more, with an extensive authoritative gazetteer of more than 800,000 names. Atlas data includes detailed administrative coverage, lakes and other bodies of water, topography, urban areas, roads, parks, and rail and ferry locations.

Now Collins Bartholomew is able to use ESRI® software for virtually every step of production. This data-centered approach has revolutionized Collins Bartholomew’s workflow.

Copyright © 2008 ESRI. All rights reserved. ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, ArcGIS, Maplex, @esri.com, and www.esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

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“We have used GIS to increase throughput and lower the cost

of map production. Equally important, we now have a more creative and flexible range of products. We can use GIS to target specific

needs and produce solutions based on those needs. New markets are opening up for

geographic information. Collins Bartholomew is positioned to capitalize on these new

opportunities.”

Sheena Barclay, Executive Director,Collins Bartholomew

The Aral Sea in central Asia has shrunk dramatically as a result of the extraction of water from the rivers that feed it and changing climatic conditions. The extent of the change is evident through a comparison of maps from the Times Atlas of 1967 and the new 2007 edition (shown below).