Developing a GIS Data Services Program

IASSST 2002

Steve MorrisHead of Digital Library Initiatives

NCSU Libraries

Workshop Overview• Introduction: What is GIS?; What Services?• Data: Key Resources; Acquiring Data• Data Access and Organization• Documentation, Metadata, Data Discovery• Data Selection & Reference Interview• Workshops, Training & Support• Incorporating Web-based Mapping Services• Hardware and Software Issues• Marketing, Outreach, and Partnering• Preservation Issues & Digital Rescue• Planning Issues

I. Overview of GIS

What is GIS?

• GIS = Geographic Information Systems

• “A collection of hardware, software, data, and personnel designed to acquire, store, update, analyze, and display geographically- referenced information.”

Geographic Information Systems

Common GIS Applications

• Natural Resources Management• Hazard Analysis• Urban and Regional Planning• Marketing• Site Analysis• Transportation Planning• Crime Mapping• Animal Tracking• Emergency Response• Tax Administration

A Very Brief Overview of GIS Concepts

A Formal Definition of GIS

• Geographic Information System• A collection of hardware, software, data, and

personnel designed to acquire, store, update, analyze, and display geographically- referenced information.

Information Display

Distance

Length

Area and Distance Calculations

Inset of Watershed Study Area

Spatial Analyses

• Selection/Query

• Classification

• Overlay

• Buffer Zones

• Network Models• etc.

Classification (e.g. Soils)

Overlay

Integration

• Data Types

• Natural Sciences

• Social Sciences

• Mathematics

• Cartography as Art

GIS Service Components

• Data Resources– Acquisition, Access, Web Applications– Discovery, Description, Metadata

• User Assistance– Finding & Getting Data– Using Data (technical support)

• Workshops, Training, Instruction• Workstations & Software• Marketing & Outreach

Digital Mapping & GIS in Libraries

• Digital Mapping Services– Assistance in Map Creation

• Traditional: Workstation support• Advanced: Map Servers• Future: Map Portals

• GIS Data Services– Access to Data (Data servers, CD-ROM collection)– Data Cataloging & Finding Aids– Assistance in Finding Data– Outreach/Marketing

MapCollections

DataCollections

MapServers

MapPortals

History: Geospatial Information Services

• Map Collections– Paper Maps

• Data Collections– CD-ROMs, File server & FTP access

• Map Servers– Integrate collected data, Web-based mapping

• Coming: Map Portals– Front end to distributed, streaming data (OpenGIS)

II. Overview of NCSU Libraries GIS Services

Background - GIS at NC State

• Large Technical University (27,000+ Students) -Engineering, Natural Resources, Ag Focus

• No Geography or City/Regional Planning Department

• Over 35 Academic Departments Using GIS

NCSU Libraries GIS Services

• Service orientation:– Not A GIS Lab– Focus on providing services (data &

support) to users across the network in their own environments (where all their other stuff is)

• GIS data service rather than digital mapping service

Time & Location Independent Access to GIS Resources

OnlineOnlineDataData

SoftwareSoftwareLicensesLicenses

Classes/Classes/TrainingTraining

TechTechSupportSupport

OnlineOnlineDataData

Classes/Classes/TrainingTraining

TechTechSupportSupport

SoftwareSoftwareLicensesLicenses

Data Services Functions

• Collection Management/Acquisitions– Acquiring (incl. virtually) free or fee-based data

• Cataloging– Web documentation, Metadata

• Public Services– Reference, Tech support, Instruction

• IT Functions– Server management, Web mapping, Application development

• Outreach– Grants, collaborative efforts, campus infrastructure

Reference Assistance

• Reference Modes– Email, phone, in person, on site– Unmediated Web-based

• Request types– Finding/selecting data– Data access assistance– Technical support– Data upload request– Finding documentation– Software inquiries– Training inquiries

Libraries GIS Workstations

DH Hill Library

2 PC workstations

Natural Resources Library

PC and UNIX workstations

NCSU: Data Acquisition

• $20,000/year data acquisition budget• Partnerships for free access to government

data (state/regional/local)• Partnerships with academic units on

acquisition/processing• Extensively documenting Web-based data,

capturing as needed• University Extension Grant to acquire local

government geodata

NetwareServer

Windows 2000Server

MappedDrive

FTP

HTTP

HTTP

DataAccess

WebMapping

Libraries GIS Data Servers

High Use Departments at NCSU

• Forestry (CNR)• Parks, Recreation & Tourism Mgmt. (CNR) • Soils (CALS)• Civil Engineering (COE)• Marine, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences (PAMS)• Landscape Architecture (Design)• Education (CEP)• Public Administration (CHASS)• Biological & Ag. Engineering (CALS/COE)

VC Registrations by College: 2000-2001

User Types (based on approx. volume)

• Graduate Students• General Public• Research and Support Staff • Faculty• Undergraduate Students• State & Local Government• Campus Facilities Staff

What Do Users Want?

• Data Access• Pointers to Data• Data Access Support• Assistance in Processing Data• Access to Support Materials (Documentation,

Tutorials, Tools, Metadata, Lookup Tables, Legend Files)

• Information about Training Opportunities• Information about Software Access

Where Do Users Do GIS?

• Departmental Labs• Unity Labs• Home (using Virtual Campus Edition of ArcView

or ArcGIS Trial Version)• Work• Libraries Workstations

What Software Do People Use?

• ESRI Campus License (administrated by Center for Earth Observation [CNR])– ArcView, ArcInfo, ArcGIS (next generation ArcView & ArcInfo),

various software extensions– Installed in Unity labs and various departmental labs; may be

installed on any NCSU computer

• Erdas Imagine– Image processing (remote sensing data)– Limited campus license: Center for Earth Observation, Soils,

Libraries

• Miscellaneous Other

III. GIS Data Resources

Data Sources

• State Government– NCDOT, DENR, other

• Federal Government– USGS, NOAA, USDA, Census, other

• Local Governments– Counties, Cities, COG’s, MPO’s

• International Organizations– UN, other

• Campus Partners– Research Labs, Departments

• Commercial Firms

From the State GIS Agency (Center for Geographic Information & Analysis)

Over 100 different data resources or “layers” (e.g. watersheds)

Free to NCSU affiliates by agreement

Made available for campus-wide access on the Libraries data server

State Government Data

State Government GIS Database

GeologySoilsHydrographyRiver BasinsRoadsRailroadsPipelines

Acquired from counties, cities, councils of government, metropolitan planning

organizations

Infrastructure, cultural and environmental data

Rapidly changing, current data

Very detailed (large scale) and accurate

Long-term preservation needs

Local Government Data

Local Government Data

StreetsParkingFootprintsParksElevation

Integrating Spatial & Tabular Data

NCSU GIS Collection Development Priority

Collection Development: Scale Issues

Commonly Used/Requested Data Layers

Digital Orthophotos

Land Cover

Roads

Hydrography

Census Counts/Boundaries

Elevation

Digital Topo Maps

Satellite Imagery

Soils

Hydrology

Government Boundaries

Cadastral

Flood Zones

Bathymetry

Postal

Hydrologic Units

Digital Nautical Charts

Geology

Data That is Difficult to Provide

Land Use

Complete Street Addressing

Current Demographics

Lake/Stream Bathymetry

Farms

TIGER

“Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing”

TIGER/Line: periodic extracts from the geographic database used in census

Included boundary, infrastructure & hydrography data at 1:100,000 scale

Nationwide coverage

In geographic coordinates, NAD 83http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/tiger.html

TIGER Data: Polygon

CountiesMCD’sCensus TractsBlock GroupsVoting DistrictsZip CodesCities

TIGER Data: Line

StreamsStreetsRailroads

TIGER Data: Point

Key LocationsLandmarksPlace NamesZip+4 Centroids

TIGER Availability (NC Example)

TIGER 2000 Redistricting Files from www.esri.com

Raw TIGER from www.census.gov

NC General Assembly (state tiles)

ESRI Data for ArcGIS (pre-2000)

Cartographic boundary files from www.census.gov

TIGER 90, 92, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99 available from various sources

NC: Land Cover Data

1996 NC Land Cover (CGIA)Raster (Imagine) or Vector

1998-99 Neuse Basin Land Cover Land Use (EPA)Arc Grid

1992 National Land Cover Dataset (USGS)GeoTIFF

1987 Land Use/Land Cover - TM (APES)Arc Coverage

Older USGS Land Use/Land Cover (USGS)GIRAS, CTG, Arc Coverage, Shapefile

NC: Street Data

NCDOT County Roads (1:24,000)Arc Coverage, Microstation

TIGER (1:100,000)Raw TIGER, Shapefile

ESRI Data (1:100,000)Shapefile

GDT Dynamap 2000Shapefile

County Government Data (large scale)Shapefile, Arc Coverage

NC: Streams Data

CGIA Hydrography (1:24,000)Arc Coverage

DLG Hydrography (1:24,000)DLG, Arc Coverage

TIGER (1:100,000)Raw TIGER, Shapefile

Reach 3 (EPA) (1:100,000)Shapefile

NC Surface Waters Data (1:24,000)In process

National Hydrography Dataset

TIGER Data: Polygon

CountiesMCD’sCensus TractsBlock GroupsVoting DistrictsZip CodesCities

Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles

New Color Infrared Orthophotos

MrSID Image Compression

10-15:1 compression on greyscale

30-40:1 compression on color

Less data loss than JPEG

Selective decompression = rapid draw times

ArcView, Intergraph, Photoshop, Powerpoint, Word, ERDAS, ArcInfo, etc.

Compresses DOQQ, BIL, TIFF, others

Create seamless mosaics

MrSID Problems

Proprietary format

Not a lossless format

Slow draw times with some viewers

Limited functionality (view only) in viewers

Limited CAD support

Tendency of agencies to compress at very high (lossy) resolutions in order to

squeeze data onto one CD-ROM

Digital Raster Graphics

Digital Raster GraphicsScanned & digitized, georeferenced USGS

Quad sheets -- UTM 83

Statewide on 27 CD-ROMs

Downloadable from gisdatadepot.com

Sure!Maps Raster: seamless, projection of choice

NCDOT: State Plane 1983/meters (or feet), clipped

Collars prevent tiling (except added-value alternatives)

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/drg.html

Typical Local Gov. Layers

Cadastral (tax parcels)

Digital Orthophotos (100/200/400’ scale; 6”, 1’, 2’ pixel)

Street centerlines

Topographic contours

School, sheriff, fire, EMS districts

Voting precincts

Miscellaneous cultural and infrastructure

NCSU Local Government Data Acquisition

2000-2001 UEX Grant ($20k)Acquire data

Build data catalog

Investigate long term preservation issues

Data acquired for roughly half of state

Directory of county map servers very popular

Many licensing problems

Partnership with CGIA, Flood mapping effort, NCDOT on acquisition/inventory

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/counties.htmlhttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/cities.html

Tips on Acquiring Data

• See what academic units already have• Partner creatively with state/local

agencies• Expect a certain amount of redundancy

(same data in different format, projection, tiling scheme)

• Decide: are you managing Depository data or any data that is useful to users

Tips on Acquiring Data (Cont.)

• Buy commercial versions of free or depository data if that’s what users need

• Treat Web-based resources as if you’d paid for them (catalog, document, ‘own’)

• ‘Digital Rescue’ - download & archive time snapshots, at-risk data

• Things that are very expensive often turn out to be free later

IV. Data Access and Organization

Networked Data File Organization

• By subject

• By geography

• By permissions level

• By data format

• By source/collection

Data Server Access

NetwareServer

Web

MappedDrive

FTP

SDE or other

CD-ROM Access

• When?– If data is not on network– If data must be extracted via workstation software– If user wants large amounts of data– If data is not licensed for electronic transfer– In practice CD-ROM access is quite rare as compared to

network access

• Restrictions– in-building use only (licensing or must work with workstation

software)– restrict to certain user class?– restrictions on copying data

IV. Documentation, Indexes, Metadata, and Data Discovery

What is Metadata?

Metadata or "data about data" describe the content, quality, condition, and other

characteristics of data.

The Federal Geographic Data Committee standards in 1994, 1998

NISO Standard

Data without metadata is not very usefulhttp://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/metadata.html

FGDC Metadata Standard

Identification information

Data quality information

Spatial data organization information

Spatial data reference information

Entity and attribute information

FGDC Metadata Standard

Distribution information

Metadata reference information

Citation information

Time period information

Contact information

Metadata

• Identification

• Description

• Data Quality

• Data Organization

• Spatial Reference Information

• Distribution Information

FGDC Metadata Standard

Scale

Positional Accuracy

Attribute Accuracy

Lineage

Currency

Concurrency

Metadata Authoring ToolsSpatial Metadata Management System

costs $, database system

http://www.intergraph.com/gis/smms/

NOAA ArcView Metadata Collector

free, can modify Avenue code

http://www.csc.noaa.gov/metadata/text/download.html

‘cns’ and ‘mp’

free, validating/reformatting only

http://geology.usgs.gov/tools/metadata/

ArcCatalogwith ArcGIS software

http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/index.html

Database/Index/Zserver ToolsSpatial Metadata Management Systemcosts $, authoring tool, GeoConnect as Zserver

http://www.intergraph.com/gis/smms/

Blue Angel Technologies MetaStarcosts $

http://www.blueangeltech.com/

ArcIMS Metadata Servercosts $ (may be part of academic license)

http://www.esri.com/software/arcims/index.html

ISITEfree, not a database

http://clearinghouse4.fgdc.gov/ftp/

National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)

NSDI is the technologies, policies, and people necessary to promote sharing of geospatial data throughout all levels of government, the private and non-profit sectors, and the academic community

Make data available, accessible, useful

Info: http://www.fgdc.gov/nsdi/nsdi.html

NSDI Components

Interoperable, framework data

Clearinghouses for data storage and access

Search tools for locating data

Metadata for data description

National Spatial Data Clearinghouse

• A distributed network that includes:– a registry of servers

– several WWW-to-Z39.50 gateways

– many Z39.50 servers

– Allows a single query of a distributed set of servers in a single session

• GEO: A geographic profile of Z39.50– Extended set of the traditional bibliographic fields to

exactly search geospatial holdings

Search Modes

Keyword/Query

Subject/Thesaurus Browse

Title Browse

Coordinate Based Search (Spatial Query)

Map Server Front End

Gazetteer Lookup

Source: NC State Library

Cross-Collection Search

Source: FGDC

Keyword Search

Source: NCCGIA

Subject Browse

Source: GeoStor

Title Browse

Source: FGDC

Coordinate-based Search

Source: NOAA/NOS

Map Server Front End

NCSU Search Modes

Data Collection Web Pages

Thesaurus Browse

Library Catalog (Metadata Crosswalk--limited)

Data Selection Wizards

Searchable Geospatial Metadata Database (In Development)

Data Collection Pages

Thesaurus and Metadata-based Access

Thesaurus and Metadata-based Access

Metadata Crosswalk to Library Catalog

FGDC Metadata >> MARC

MetadataRecord

GIS Index

GIS Users

MARCRecord

OPAC

Accidental Users

CrosswalkCrosswalk

MarketingMarketingDeliberate AccessDeliberate Access

Catalog Integration Strategies

GeospatialData

Collection

User

OPACOther

Collections

Catalog Integration Strategies

GeospatialData

Collection

User

OPACOther

Collections

Cataloging

• Understand and promote use of metadata

• Crosswalk metadata to MARC if appropriate

• Balance series-level records vs. set-level records

Data Selection Wizards

Help users find online data, map servers in a time and location independent manner

Walk users through a reference interview

Educate users about data questions

Present users with suitable data resources

Indicate why other resources are not recommended

Provide 24 x 7 access to specialized reference expertise

Data Selection Wizards

Metadata at NCSU

Metadata copied with data and stored: on network with data as text files

on web server as HTML files

Pointing to external metadata

Supplementing metadata records with local distribution methods

Creating metadata for data lacking it

Creating metadata for retiled or reprojected data

NCSU GIS Data Finding Aids

Data Collection Listhttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/datalist.html

Data Layer Lookuphttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/theslist.html

Internet Resourceshttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/dataweb.html

Data Selection Wizardshttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/datawiz.html

Web Mapping Site Listhttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/webmap.html

V. Data Selection and the Reference Interview

Data Extent

Scale

Ratio of map units to real world units

Scale matters

Standard Scales:

1:12,000

1:24,000

1:100,000

1:250,000

1:1,000,000, etc.

LARGELARGE

SMALLSMALL

Scale & Positional Accuracy

Attribute Accuracy

Image Resolution

Image Resolution

Image Resolution

Image Resolution

Common NC Projections

GeographicGeographic CoordinatesCoordinates

State PlaneState Plane27/Feet27/Feet

UTMUTM

State PlaneState Plane83/Meters83/Meters

Local Governments:Local Governments:State Plane 1983/feetState Plane 1983/feet

Projections: 1993 Orthophotos

USGS UnclippedBIP UTM

USGS JPEGUnclipped UTM

NCDOT TIFFState Plane (m)

Clipped

NCDOT JPEGState Plane (m)

Clipped

NCDOT MrSIDState Plane (m)County Mosaics

Und.Systems State Plane (f)

BMP

NCSU Libraries MrSID UTM Unclipped

NCSU Libraries MrSID UTM

County Mosaic

NCDOT JPEGThumbnail Clipped

UTM

State Plane 1983 meters

State Plane 1983 feet

Formats: 1993 Orthophotos

USGS UnclippedBIP UTM

USGS JPEGUnclipped UTM

NCDOT TIFFState Plane (m)

Clipped

NCDOT JPEGState Plane (m)

Clipped

NCDOT MrSIDState Plane (m)County Mosaics

Und.Systems State Plane (f)

BMP

NCSU Libraries MrSID UTM Unclipped

NCSU Libraries MrSID UTM

County Mosaic

NCDOT JPEGThumbnail Clipped

BIP

TIFF

JPEG

MrSID

BMP

Data Tiling Scheme

Incongruous Data Tiling Schemes

Tiling Issues

Small Tilesneed to merge data sets: time consuming,

possible software limits

Large Tilesneed to clip data sets: time consuming,

possible software limits

Incongruous Tiles (e.g. Counties and River Basins)

need to both merge and clip data

Common Tiling Schemes

County

USGS Quad (1:12k, 1:24k, 1:100k, 1:250k)

River Basin or Subbasin

State

File Size: Feature Subset

ESRI Major RoadsTIGER Subset.shp file: 0.22 mb

Wessex Streets 5.0TIGER Data.shp file: 4.67 mb

File Size: Line Thinning

585 Feet

Data Currency

Concurrency: “1993” Orthophoto Dates

Attribute Availability: Street Addresses

Data Finding Issues

VI. Workshops and Training

Library GIS Workshops at NCSU

• Current Offerings– Intro to GIS Using ArcView (6 hours)– Finding GIS Data (2 hours)– Non-Programmer’s Guide to Finding and Using

Avenue Scripts and Extensions for ArcView (2 hours)

• Additional Topics in Demand– Discipline specific training– Advanced ArcView training– ArcView extensions training

ESRI Virtual Campus

• Free to NCSU faculty, staff, students• 36 courses (e.g. ‘Spatial Analysis in Agriculture’

and ‘Spatial Hydrology’)• 18-24 hours per course• Home version of ArcView • All needed data provided• Certificate for course completion• Funding: textbook $ & distance learning• http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/virtcamp.html

Virtual Campus Administration

• Sign-up through Web-based form• Code delivered as email response -- not

automatically, human intervention• For some departmental classes, codes are batch

delivered for redistribution by teaching assistants• Limit: Two concurrent courses• Maintain Access database of registrations• New codes reordered from ESRI in batches as

needed (prepaid)

VC Results in First 2 Years

• About 1,000 registrations• Over 20,000 individual/instruction hours• Over 400 unique users• Users from 36 academic departments in 9 colleges• Required for 12 courses in 5 colleges• Less than 25 problem cases• Hugely popular• Service provided to date at no cost to NCSU

Libraries

Registrations by User Category

Registrations by College

Virtual Campus Benefits

• Entry-level GIS training in campus units without strong GIS presence

• Partially remove entry barriers to GIS• Advanced GIS training for students who have finished

beginning and intermediate levels• Facilitate inclusion of GIS component in departmental

courses• Time and location independent access to training in area of

choice• “Just-in-time learning”• Low maintenance overhead, few problems

Workshops/Training Objectives

• Primary– Educate Users About GIS Concepts– Teach Hands-on GIS– Teach Users About Finding and Selecting Data– Show Users Where to Go Next

• Secondary– Get to Know Users– Promote/Market Organizational (Campus?)

Resources

VII. Incorporating Web-based Mapping Services

Web-based Mapping

• Interact with GIS data via Web browser

• GIS access for those without:– Expensive GIS software– GIS-capable computer

equipment– GIS expertise

– High network bandwidth

– Data storage space

Why Web-based GIS?

• Users can examine data prior to acquisition• Some access to otherwise restricted data• Non-GIS users can view, query and

manipulate data• Allow use of large data sets in-place on

remote servers• Distance education -- remote access

Web GIS Uses

• Preview data

• Make quick maps (export image or do image capture)

• Quick lookup: house, school, address, land parcel

• Front-end to data extraction

Web GIS Limitations

• Can’t combine data from different map servers (yet)

• Labeling, symbolization options may be limited

• Image capture/export options may be limited

• Servers can be unreliable

Chatham County, NC

County Government Map Server

Chatham County, NC

State Government Map Server

Chatham County, NC

Federal Government Map Server

FederalFederal StateState LocalLocal

OpenGISOpenGIS ClientClient

Map Servers: Border Areas

Durham County Map Server

Chatham County Map Server

Wake County Map Server

LocalLocal LocalLocal LocalLocal

OpenGISOpenGIS ClientClient

Local Government Mapping Services

• Paper maps produced on site (usually tax office, or planning dept.)

• Early 1990’s: Distributed GIS data• Late 1990’s: Map servers• Next: Streaming data?

Ongoing effort to find more efficient ways of getting mapping information into the hands of external users (public, real estate & commercial, other local/state agencies)

Additional Factors for Map Servers

Image Export OptionsGIF, JPEG, PNG, None

Map Lookup OptionsGazetteer, Quad, Coordinates, Street

Address, Zip Code, County, City

Feature or Image Combinations

Annotation, Icon Functionality

Display CustomizationMap size, Classification, Colors, etc.

Problems with Map Servers

Not always most current data

Mix of scales

Where is the data from? (e.g. which ‘roads’ dataset?)

Limited ability to recombine layers

Limited symbolization/customization options

Thesaurus and Metadata-based Access

Web Mapping Link in Catalog Record

OpenGIS: Catalog Specification

The OpenGIS™ Abstract Specification - Topic 13: Catalog Services

OpenGIS - Catalog Interface Implementation Specification (Version1.0)

www.opengis.org

VIII. Building a Web GIS System

Application Technical Requirements

Server

Network Infrastructure

Web Server Software

Web-Based Mapping Software

Data

GIS Software for Data Preparation

Map Server Software

Commercial (samples)ArcIMS (ESRI)

http://www.esri.com/software/arcims/index.html

MapXtreme (MapInfo) http://www.mapinfo.com

MapGuide (Autodesk) http://www.autodesk.com

GeoMedia WebMap http://www.intergraph.com/gis/gmwm/

Free (samples)MapServer http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/

GIS Viewer http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/gis/

Skill Sets

Web Server/System Administration

Server Side Programming/IDE (Visual Basic, ASP, JSP, Java servlets, Visual C+

+, Delphi, Powerbuilder, etc.)

Client Side Programming (HTML, DHTML, JavaScript, Java applets)

GIS Web Components (ArcIMS, MapObjects, Spatial FX, etc.)

GIS Software

Design Issues

Scalabilitygeographic area

data density

functionality

Data Updatability

Liability Issues

Mixing of Scales

Client Type (HTML, DHTML, Java)

Choose Scalable Project AreaChoose Scalable Project Area

Create Scale DependenciesCreate Scale Dependencies

Organize Data Layers MeaningfullyOrganize Data Layers Meaningfully

Use Browse LayersUse Browse Layers

Use Reference LayersUse Reference Layers

Plan for Data UpdatePlan for Data Update

Be careful about mixing scalesBe careful about mixing scales

Questions to Consider

Who is the target audience (in-library -- campus -- general public)?

What is the project area?

What data layers should be selected?

How much update work?

What is the desired level of functionality?

Strategic Issues

Partnership with campus units/public organizations

Integration with traditional data services

Integration with distance education efforts

Cultivation of technical skills

Leveraging existing technical resources

Data Preparation

Project Data

Clip Data

Classify Data

Physically Organize Data

Quality Control

Document Data (Lineage & Metadata)

Clip DataClip Data

Clip DataClip Data

Project DataProject Data

Local Government Data Issues

Large File Size

Slow Draw Times

Frequent Data Update

Sensitive Data

Discontinuous Coverage Across Region

‘Map’ Preparation

Group Themes by Subject

Use Reference Layers

Create Scale Dependencies for Layers

Create Web Pages

Create Data Documentation

Create Help Resources

Server Preparation

Install Web Server, Interactive Mapping Software

Use Staging Server to Develop Application

Stress Testing

Server Tuning

Problems: Technical

Upward and Downward Browser Compatibility Problems

Non-Scalable Map Server Software

Data Update

Technology Changes

JPEG Limitations/GIF Licensing Problems (use PNG?)

IX. Hardware and Software

GIS Workstations: Patron Uses

• Extract/copy data– from CD-ROM– from network

• Analysis– Class or project work– Virtual Campus– Gov. Docs access

• Products– GIS data (or preview of data)– map images or paper maps (large format plots)– statistics/numeric data– charts

GIS Workstations at NCSU

• Who can use workstations?– Anyone

• What for?– Commercial use is by and large prohibited for the GIS

software as licensed as well as for many of the datasets (this is posted on the workstations)

• How do users login?– Reference desk staff log them in using staff password

• User workspace?– No guaranteed storage, files eliminated after two weeks

(automated script)

Map Creation: Workstations

• Pros– High level of support to individual users– “High touch”– High degree of customization, analysis

• Cons– Expensive– Not scalable to a large population– Does not create a durable resource– Location-dependence (library)– Skews services orientation away from distributed service model– Burden on staff: Interruptions

Map Creation: Map Servers

• Pros– Time & location independence– No special software or skills requirements– Fat server/thin client: minimal bandwidth & local storage

requirements

• Cons– Expense of data collation, transformation– Volatility of data (especially local): Expense of updates, or

failure to update– Redundancy of effort & lag time if data producer is also

providing map server access– Limitations on analysis, map customization, quality

Map Creation: Map Portals

• Pros– Time & location independence– No special software/skills requirements– Fat server/thin client: minimal bandwidth & local storage

requirements– Data producer serves the data, less “stale” data

• Cons– Currently map servers are “data islands”: Inability to

combine mapping information from different sources– Limited functionality, customization, analysis– Lack of finding aids for map server resources

Workstations

• Restrict the number of software packages that you are willing to support

• Be aware of current recommendations (e.g. FDLP for cartographic use)

• Compromise between optimal configuration and concerns of Systems Dept. (these things need to be replaced every two years, economize on deployment time)

X. Marketing, Outreach and Partnering

Partnering

• 2+2 = 22 2+2+2 = 222

• Become active in campus GIS community

• Partner on data acquisition, conversion and delivery

• Partner with state and local agencies

• Save $$ and learn about all the hidden data resources

Partnerships Efforts

Web-based Mapping

Data Acquisition

Data Conversion

Software Purchase

Data Server/Hardware Purchase

Metadata Development

Software Development

Technical Advice/Referrals

Key Partnerships at NCSU

CampusCenter for Earth Observation

Soils Lab

Campus Facilities

College of Education (K-12)

State GovernmentCenter for Geographic Information & Analysis

Dept. of Transportation

Dept. of Environment & Natural Resources

State Data Center

Local Governmentsvarious counties and cities; Triangle J COG

XI. Preservation Issues and ‘Digital Rescue’

Digital Preservation Issues

Periodic data “snapshots”

Format migration

Media refresh or migration

Obtain image data in original, non-proprietary formats (BIL, TIFF)

Documentation and Metadata

Emulation (software, operating system)

Will Producers Preserve the Data?

While agencies may be mandated to archive snapshots of data they may not be mandated to refresh media or migrate data as technologies

change

Local governments in particular have little to no interest in providing access to older versions of data, in fact older versions are seen as potential

liabilities

Even static resources such as orthophotos are endangered after 4-5 years

Future Historical Resource: GIS Data

Local Government Data Acquisition Plan

XII. Planning Issues

Planning Issues: Ways to Let Time Work Against You

• Spend a lot of time mass converting data that is subject to update

• Commit heavily to technologies that are soon to be superceded

• Assume data are static -- neglect time series

• Spend a lot of time learning things that you might use at some undefined future time

• Put off purchase of expensive data with restrictive licensing

• If significant barriers, delay application deployment until technology improves -- do something else instead

• Plant seeds (e.g. outreach) and wait for results

• Master the art of just-in-time learning

Planning Issues: Ways to Let Time Work For You

Lets Not Forget ...

• Sometimes hard copy resources are the better source

• Some hard copy resources have no digital analog

• Utilize the physical browse environment of the hard copy collection to lead users to digital resources– “information terrain”– Future: PDA links to digital resources from out on the

floor, “smart shelves”

What’s Next

• More thin client/fat server access

– image and map servers

– network GIS

• Map portals– manage access to map servers

– integrate data from different sources (streaming data)

– OpenGIS

GIS Data Services Challenges

• 24 x 7 user access to specialist assistance in data selection & use

• Long term preservation and migration (media, format) of digital data

• Agent-based update of dynamic, virtual data holdings

• Leverage the physical browse environment of the map collection for discovery of digital data resources

Getting Training

• ESRI Schools & Libraries Program– http://www.esri.com/industries/libraries/index.html

• ESRI Training (incl. Virtual Campus)– http://www.esri.com/training/index.html

• ARL GIS Literacy Project– http://www.arl.org/info/gis/index.html

• Training through other software vendors (MapInfo, Intergraph, Autodesk, Erdas, etc.)

• Academic departments

Keeping Up

• GIS4-Lib Listserv– Send “SUBSCRIBE GIS4LIB your name” to

listproc@u.washington.edu

• GIS Café Daily News– http://www.giscafe.com/

• Geocomm.comm Spatial News daily– http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/subscribe.html

• GIS Magazines– http://www.GeoPlace.com/

One Librarian’s Wish List

• Ability to harvest selected records from clearinghouses

• Unique ID’s for data resources• Metadata on map servers• Currency statements on map servers• Thesaurus control• Accomodation for local context fields in metadata

standards

Contact Information

Steve Morris

Head of Data Services

North Carolina State University Libraries

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis

Steven_Morris@ncsu.edu

phone: (919) 513-2614 fax: (919) 515-8264