ABSTRACT
Web mapping tools typically present the user in a web browser with a series of tools that accomplish certain functions, such as measurement, symbology, and analysis, along with an interactive map canvas, and the ability to save, embed, and share. Web mapping tools allow the map author to decide upon the content, symbology, scale, classification method, projection, and other map elements. The author can usually make a copy of content that someone else has authored, modify it, and add to it, or the author can create completely original content from his or her own spreadsheets, desktop geographic information system (GIS), fieldwork, or other data sets. The content comes from web mapping services that are on servers that are either offsite, such as those in the Amazon, Microsoft, or Google cloud, or onsite, such as the organization’s own servers. Web mapping platforms include those from Esri (e.g., ArcGIS Online), Mapbox, QGIS, Leaflet, and others. Web mapping involves client-side and server-side tools and functions. Many web mapping interfaces 156allow the user who is not signed into the system (an ‘anonymous user’) to perform certain functions, and a user who is signed into the system (a ‘named user’) to perform additional functions. For example, ArcGIS Online allows the anonymous user to modify the map by adding data, symbolizing and classifying mapped features, measure distances and areas, find locations, and other functions. ArcGIS Online allows the named user to save the map, share the map, create web mapping applications such as story maps, and perform spatial analysis on that data. The named user is granted certain rights to the organizational account in which they are a part of: Some users are administrators, who can invite users to the organization and grant access to specific tools to them. Other users are publishers, who can publish data layers and perform analysis. Other users can only view data and make temporary changes to maps. ArcGIS Online is a manifestation of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model discussed earlier: It is a GIS running in the cloud, with data, tools, and services available to the user.
