A lot of new features are running on our site: “My Industry” now has areas that focus on agriculture, healthcare and real estate. A telecommunications section is under construction and new sections on education and environmental mapping are in the works.

Our staff recently added an interactive question-and-answer feature to the industry section’s agriculture area. We plan to add similar interactive features to our other industries. Along the same lines, we’ve opened a new “Ask Directions” feature on our home page for readers who have general questions about mapping software and applications.

We’re not resting: This week, we are launching an entire new area of our magazine that will be dedicated to helping people get started in desktop mapping. It is appropriately named “Getting Started.” This new area includes clear descriptions of mapping terminology and products, a product preview section where you can see how individual GIS applications work, and soon, a glossary of mapping terminology.

We’ve also opened a letters section to provide a format for readers with interesting comments and criticisms, and our News section expanded its coverage to technology issues that are relevant to our Web-oriented readers.

Keep in touch. We welcome your comments, criticism and suggestions. As long as you keep in touch with us, we’ll be able to provide you with the mapping resources that you need.