September 18, 1998

The next reference CD-ROM the Web makes me retire may be my atlas disc, as a result of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Atlas of the United States http://www-atlas.usgs.gov. It offers all the industry-standard cartographic info – roads, railroads, rivers and so on – along with details like volcanoes, past earthquakes and the principal aquifers underlying the dirt.

The site features a clean, sensible design – aside from some confusing labels and a quarrelsome search function – but does run bit sluggishly (you'll need a new version of Netscape or Internet Explorer). Coolest item here: the small "Identify" button below each map, that, when selected, causes your next click to yield a detailed report on the selected locale, listing such helpful esoterica as the "emplanements" (total plane boardings) at a nearby airport.
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Rob Pegoraro rob@twp.com