For two hundred years Ordnance Survey has provided detailed mapping for the whole of Great Britain. With the advent of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Ordnance Survey has been at the forefront of providing high quality digital mapping that provides a foundation for referencing information with geographic content. This paper outlines the path being taken by Ordnance Survey in travelling from cartography to Geographic Information. In doing so it highlights both current strengths and weakness of OS MasterMap - the current state of the art - and provides a look into the future. Using inland water as an example this paper also outlines how such advances are going beyond the map metaphor and how this can be exploited for the benefit of landscape ecologists.
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