As curator of the CyberAtlas at the Guggenheim, I want to thank Jason,
Robbin, and Tina for their feedback on the site [see "<a
href="http://www.rhizome.org/cgi-local/query.cgi?action=grab_object&kt=kt0998">mapping
information</a>," RHIZOME CONTENTBASE, 12.29.97]. In organizing the project
as a historical atlas, I meant to encourage the expectation that CyberAtlas
will evolve over time–as does the internet and our varied perceptions of
it. So it's particularly helpful to get feedback at this initial launch.

Jason is right to imply that the emphasis in CyberAtlas is not on
creating a technologically innovative interface but on designing a
convincing two-dimensional map. That having been said, don't you think
that CyberAtlas's "unfoldable" map–which follows the viewer around as
they jump from site to site–offers a substantially different experience
than one would get from looking at these maps in a magazine? It's
certainly a very different experience than my typical web surf, which
feels like burrowing a linear tunnel rather than exploring a spatial
terrain. Which is not to say the unfoldable map will be CyberAtlas's
only approach; I have no doubt that new maps will bring new interfaces.

As for prefab mapping algorithms like Web Stalker
[http://www.backspace.org/iod] or Perspectaview
[http://www.perspecta.com], they have lots of potential and may very
well serve as the basis for an upcoming contribution to CyberAtlas. So
far these mapping structures seem more adept at correlating separate
bits of information algorithmically than at providing a compelling
conceptual or spatial metaphor that helps viewers envision that
information. In other words, they work more as diagrams than maps. But
it could also be that my fellow CyberAtlas curators and I just haven't
found the best use for these programs yet. In any case, I think they are
exciting developments, and I expect to see them used more in the future.

Yes, Tina, the jodi map [http://jodi.org/100/url/] is interesting as a
purely technological diagram of the net's understructure. (It contains a
good selection of sites as well.) However, the goal of
CyberAtlas–whether or not it has yet been achieved–is not to encourage
people to think about the Internet as plumbing but to encourage them to
think about it as a social or thematic structure. For example, the first
map, "Electric Sky," uses the metaphor of constellations to trace the
collaborative networks that enabled artists and curators to present art
online. The second map, Laura Trippi's "Intelligent Life," uses the
metaphor of a neural network to trace the thematic connections between
complexity science and art, theory, and popular culture.

OK, that's enough defensiveness for one message! I am hoping to showcase
some alternative approaches to mapping information in the next iteration
of CyberAtlas, and to that end I am always interested in learning about
related projects. (For example, the folks at Plexus are planning a site
on mapping the Internet as well.) So I'm happy to hear from anyone
working on a related project and once again want to thank everyone for
their suggestions.