Atlas of Oregon again wins prizes in international competition

'MAPS HAVE NEVER BEEN SO COOL'...  
Interactive 'Atlas of Oregon' Wins Two Top Prizes

February 27, 2003

EUGENE-The "Atlas of Oregon CD-ROM" has been named winner of two top awards in this year's international competition conducted by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM). The University of Oregon's innovative digital atlas competed against the best maps and atlases in the world, including the new "National Geographic Family Reference Atlas."

The Oregon atlas, created in the UO Geography Department's InfoGraphics Laboratory in collaboration with UO Press, was awarded Best of Show and Best of Category honors in the Book and Atlas division.

The awards will be presented March 31 in Phoenix, Ariz., at a ceremony during the organization's annual international convention.

The "Atlas of Oregon CD-ROM" is a two-disc compendium of information about the state's economy, culture, history and natural resources. The project's creative team, headed by InfoGraphics director James Meacham and lead designer Erik Steiner, re-imagined the bestselling, 300-page "Atlas of Oregon" print edition for easy access using a computer. The result has garnered international attention for its cutting-edge use of digital wizardry to present information in new and powerful ways. As a Chicago Tribune feature story put it, "Maps have never been so cool."

The "Atlas of Oregon CD-ROM" is compatible with both Macintosh and PC formats. The UO Press currently is preparing an educational version with associated lesson plans and teaching tips.

More information about the "Atlas of Oregon CD-ROM" is available on the UO Press web site, http://www.uopress.com 

'ATLAS OF OREGON, CD-ROM VERSION' WINS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION'

The Atlas of Oregon, in its new CD-ROM format, has again won two top awards in the international Map Design Competition for 2001 conducted by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) The CD version won the "Best in Show" and "Best of Category" awards in the "Book and Atlas" division.  See http://www.acsm.net/mapwinners.html 

April 4, 2002

The University of Oregon Press published the "Atlas of Oregon, 2nd Edition" on Oct. 15, 2001 with an initial press run of 20,000 copies (12,000 trade paperback and 8,000 hardcover). "Atlas sales have exceeded our most optimistic projections," says Tom Hager, UO Press acting director. As a result of strong sales, a second printing of 5,000 hardcover books will be rolling off the industrial presses of Dynagraphics this week and available for media to view, photograph and videotape Thursday morning.

The "Atlas of Oregon, 2nd Edition," the UO’s 125th anniversary gift to the people of Oregon, has won glowing reviews and two top awards in an international competition conducted by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM). The first edition celebrated the UO’s centennial in 1976. Two years of research, writing, design and production went into the creation of the new atlas, which expands on and completely revises the first edition. New databases and computer technologies have enabled the authors in the current edition to present about 10 times as much information as in the 1976 first edition.

Atlas of Oregon wins prizes in international competition; 
Sales pass 10,000 milestone

March 4, 2002

EUGENE—The "Atlas of Oregon," the University of Oregon’s 125th anniversary gift to the people of Oregon, has won two top awards in an international competition conducted by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM).

The judges of the ACSM Map Design Competition for 2001 were unanimous in their award of the atlas as the "Best in Show." The atlas, the almost entirely revised second edition of a book originally published in 1976 to mark the university’s centennial, also took "Best of Category" honors in the "Book and Atlas" division.

The awards will be presented April 18 in Washington, D.C., at a ceremony during the organization’s annual international convention.

Sales of the atlas have been brisk. In the three-month period following publication by the UO Press on Oct. 15, 2001, more than 10,000 copies of the book were sold.

"Atlas sales have exceeded our most optimistic projections," says Tom Hager, UO Press acting director. "The people of Oregon recognized the value of the atlas, and showed their pride and interest in the state by buying it."

"Big, beautiful, clearly organized, and jam-packed with information, the ‘Atlas of Oregon’ has set the highest standard for atlas design," says Tom Patterson of the National Park Service, one of the ACSM competition judges. "The appealing design beckons the reader to learn more about Oregon’s varied cultural and physical geography; hours can easily be spent in this enjoyable pursuit."

The University of Oregon Bookstore alone has sold more than 1,100 copies of the atlas.

"The atlas has been a significant benefit to our business," says the bookstore’s Tom Gerald. "Strong sales of the atlas gave us holiday growth like we haven’t seen in three years, greatly increasing our bottom line. It has also helped our trade book business by bringing in new customers who have not shopped the Books Department before."

The atlas is a compendium of information on Oregon’s history, economy, geography, geology, demographics, industry and natural resources, among other topics. Its 320 pages, almost all in full color, feature more than 1,000 maps and diagrams.

Founded in 1941, the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping has a membership of more than 7,000 surveyors, cartographers, geodesists and other spatial data information professionals working in both public and private sectors throughout the world.

For more information about "The Atlas of Oregon," visit the UO Press web site, http://www.uopress.com/; send e-mail to uopress@darkwing.uoregon.edu; or call (541) 346-5885 or 1 (866) OrAtlas [1 (866) 672-8527]. The mailing address is University of Oregon Press, 5283 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5283.