North American Cartographic Information Society

The North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) is a US-based cartographic society founded in 1980. It was founded by specialists in cartography, which included government mapmakers, map librarians, cartography professors and cartography lab directors. It now represents a broad mixture of academic, government and commercial interests, with a sizeable proportion of working cartographers. Many NACIS members come from related vocations (e.g. art, design, information visualization, GIS, historical research, and software development.) NACIS offers both volunteer opportunities and travel grants for students and members of the community.

Objectives
To improve communication, coordination and cooperation among the producers, disseminators, curators, and users of cartographic information.

To support and coordinate activities with other professional organizations and institutions involved with cartographic information.

To improve the use of cartographic materials through education and to promote graphicacy.

To promote and coordinate the acquisition, preservation, and automated retrieval of all types of cartographic material.

To influence government policy on cartographic information.

Membership
The membership is largely from the United States and Canada, with a small but steady number from other countries. In recent years, NACIS has focused on increasing membership in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Conference
NACIS hosts an annual conference in the fall at a variety of locations around North America.

1980: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

1981: Gatlinburg, Tennessee

1982: Arlington, Virginia

1983: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

1984: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1985: Chicago, Illinois

1986: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1987: Atlanta, Georgia

1988: Denver, Colorado

1989: Ann Arbor, Michigan

1990: Orlando, Florida

1991: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

1992: St. Paul, Minnesota

1993: Silver Spring, Maryland

1994: Ottawa, Ontario

1995: Wilmington, North Carolina

1996: San Antonio, Texas

1997: Lexington, Kentucky

1998: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

1999: Williamsburg, Virginia

2000: Knoxville, Tennessee

2001: Portland, Oregon

2002: Columbus, Ohio

2003: Jacksonville, Florida

2004: Portland, Maine

2005: Salt Lake City, Utah

2006: Madison, Wisconsin

2007: St Louis, Missouri

2008: Missoula, Montana

2009: Sacramento, California

2010: Madison, Wisconsin

2011: St. Petersburg, Florida

2012: Portland, Oregon

2013: Greenville, South Carolina

2014: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2015: Minneapolis, Minnesota

2016: Colorado Springs, Colorado

2017: Montréal, Quebec

2018: Norfolk, Virginia

2019: Tacoma, Washington

2020: Null Island (Virtual Conference)

2021: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and hybrid virtual

2022: Minneapolis, Minnesota

2023: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2024: Tacoma, Washington

Publications
NACIS publishes a triannual journal, Cartographic Perspectives (available online as open-access) and the Atlas of Design, a biennial publication showcasing innovative maps designed by cartographers from around the world.

Initiatives
The organization is a sponsor of Natural Earth, a public domain cartographic dataset available at 1:10 million, 1:50 million, and 1:110 million scales.