EUGENE–Looking for information about Lane County? It might be just a click away on the new on-line Atlas of Lane County.

The atlas is made up of 20 sections, each presenting information about a different aspect of the county. The atlas includes topic areas such as watersheds, precipitation, ecological regions, wildlife habitat, salmon habitat, geology, population, recreation, emergency services, school districts, voter precincts and major land ownership.

"The atlas provides a sequence of standardized maps on a variety of themes that allow for easy and useful comparisons between topics," says Jim Meacham, director of the University of Oregon InfoGraphics laboratory, who coordinated the project. "In addition, the sections also have supporting text, graphics and links to other relevant web sites. Together these resources produce a multi-dimensional narrative about the county."

To produce the atlas, Meacham involved students in his Advanced Cartography courses in the UO Department of Geography in the spring of 1998 and winter of 1999. More than 30 students contributed to the project.

The atlas also received help in the form of collaboration with and access to geographic information from the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG).

"There is a great deal of information compiled by various governmental agencies that we have brought together in a very conveniently organized format," says Meacham. His map and atlas publication credits include the 1990 print edition of the Atlas of Lane County and the official Oregon State Highway Map.

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