Pick a mapping program — Uplink Archive

A comparison of four geographic information system (GIS) software products including ArcView, Atlas GIS, MapInfo, and Maptitude, with pricing, features, and contact information for journalism and research applications.

ArcView ($995) Unix workstation, Windows and Macintosh versions. Environmental Systems Research Institute; (800) 447-9778 Includes Avenue, a tool for building front-end interfaces. Also comes with U.S. state and county boundary files, ZIP-5 boundary and point files and point files for state capitals and cities with more than 10,000 people.

Atlas GIS (Call for price) Windows and DOS versions. Strategic Mapping Inc.; (800) 472-6277

MapInfo ($1,295) Windows and Macintosh versions. MapInfo Inc.; (518) 285-6000 Latest Windows version, MapInfo Professional, includes U.S. state and county boundaries, ZIP code boundaries and points; 200,000 landmarks, 9,000 cities and state capitals.

Maptitude ($395) Windows version only. Caliper Corp. (617) 527-4700 Includes CD-ROM of U.S. streets, useful for street address matching. A second CD includes U.S. state, county and census tract boundaries, as well as ZIP code boundaries and points. Census demographics are included for each geographic boundary type.