Automated Encyclopaedic Tourist Guide Generation for the Settlements of Scotland: A Static Document Approach

Abstract

Trends towards open geographic information, combined with the proliferation of mobile technologies. Have created an opportunity to develop new and interesting ways to visualise and distribute spatial data. This study integrated data from the Gazetteer for Scotland (GfS) and recently released Ordnance Survey (OS) Open Data to automatically generate static (PDF’S) tourist guides for each of the more then five thousand settlements in Scotland. Specific attention was brought to; 1) the usage OS open data as a source of base layer map data, 2) how effectively geographical descriptions contained within the GfS could be customized for the purpose of tourism, and 3) can effective stylistic practices be implemented through scripting to produced guides with an appropriate layout. Feedback was acquired by means of online surveys and focus groups sessions, to give direction to the research and to receive user feedback throughout the development process. The overall results were positive, with 76 percent of people believing that the layout and overall content of the guides was effective and appropriate. Most of the negative comments received, related to clarity of the maps/images and the lack of logistical travel information contained within the guides.