Geospatial Web services and geoarchiving: new opportunities and challenges in geographic information services.

ABSTRACT

Over the course of the past fifteen years the role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has changed significantly. Initially the role of the map library was confined to that of building and providing access to collections of hard copy maps and imagery. Later, digital data, whether on CD-ROMs or network based, was added as a new type of resource within that collection and service model. By the late 1990s some academic libraries began to take on a Web map server role, providing interactive Web mapping access to collections of digital geospatial data. In the new era of distributed, interoperable map services, libraries will have an opportunity to explore new roles as portals to streaming content available in the form of geospatial Web services. At the same time, the increasingly ephemeral nature of digital geospatial content will make even more critical the need to address the long-term digital preservation challenges that are facing geospatial content.

**********

This article focuses on two major geographic information issues facing academic libraries as well as libraries in general. First, what role should libraries play in the development and utilization of emerging geospatial Web services? Second, how should libraries address the challenge of long-term preservation of digital geospatial data in light of a shift to distribution methods that make the content ever more ephemeral?

INTRODUCTION

Over the course of the past fifteen years the role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has changed significantly. Initially the role of the map library was confined to that of building and providing access to collections of hard copy maps and imagery. Later, digital data, whether on CD-ROMs or network based, was added as a new type of resource within that collection and service model (Journal of Academic Librarianship, 1995, 1997). By the late 1990s some academic libraries began to take on a Web map server role, providing interactive Web mapping access to collections of digital geospatial data. In the new era of distributed, interoperable map services, libraries will have an opportunity to explore new roles as portals to streaming content available in the form of geospatial Web services. At the same time, the increasingly ephemeral nature of digital geospatial content will make even more critical the need to address the long-term digital preservation challenges that are facing geospatial content.

This article will focus on two major geographic information issues facing academic libraries as well as libraries in general. First, what role should libraries play in the development and utilization of emerging geospatial Web services? Second, how should libraries address the challenge of long-term preservation of digital geospatial data in light of a shift to distribution methods that make the content ever more ephemeral? Specific experiences with engaging geospatial Web services and with instituting preservation-focused action responses will be drawn from the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries data services program and the North Carolina Geospatial Data Archiving Project, a cooperative effort with the Library of Congress and the NC OneMap Initiative.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF DIGITAL GEOSPATIAL DATA SERVICES IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

There are many components of academic library GIS services. At the core is the data collection, but accompanying the data is a mix of services that vary from campus to campus. A brief summary of typical service components follows.

Data Collections

Libraries acquire, license, catalog, make discoverable, archive, and carry out value-added processing on digital geospatial data. While, in the United States at least, much data is available in the public domain, the data is not always organized or readily accessible in such a way as to allow the user to easily sort through the wide range of data options available, and effort is required to make such freely available data discoverable. Furthermore, in order to improve data availability it is sometimes necessary to acquire and license additional commercial or fee-based government data for use. In some cases libraries also engage in large-scale value-added work--retiling, projecting, or otherwise converting and reorganizing data resources into a more convenient form for the libraries' target audience.

Data Discovery Tools and Support

Libraries support the discovery, selection, and use of geospatial data. While the most common form of promoting access to data collections has been the development of Web documentation for data collections, in some cases searchable databases of geospatial metadata are also made available. Data resources may also be included in the library's catalog, but the catalog is not usually the most effective vehicle for exposing or searching for digital geospatial data.

Technical Support

The line between providing reference support for finding and selecting data and providing actual technical support for using the data is a blurry one, and it has become more common for academic libraries to play a prominent role in providing technical support to GIS users. At NCSU, for example, the library holds one of four "right to call" spots for the campus Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) site license and provides technical support as needed to campus users. Libraries also play varying roles in supporting campus software licenses, facilitating distribution of software, and troubleshooting installations.

Workshops and Training

As an extension of reference and technical support many libraries offer workshops on a variety of topics such as introductory GIS, data discovery, or use of specific software tools. The mix of workshops offered often reflects the sort of reference and technical support demands placed on the library. Increasingly, in-library workshops have now been complemented by and even supplanted by online training resources. At NCSU, for example, the library supports over 600 registrations per year for the ESRI Virtual Campus online courses.

Marketing and Outreach

Another academic library function, which goes hand-in-hand with workshops, is marketing and outreach--promoting geospatial resources and services to the campus community. GIS activity typically initially takes root in one or just a few core departments where there is a high level of activity and support. Meanwhile, latent demand exists in a broad range of academic disciplines where awareness of geospatial tools and resources is lacking, or where there is a perceived barrier to entry in terms of lack of access to tools, data, training, and support. Libraries, as a neutral space focused on customer service, are well positioned to cultivate new GIS users by promoting the use of geospatial tools and content and by providing ready access to software, data, training, and support. At NCSU the number of academic departments engaged in GIS grew from fewer than ten to thirty-five within just a few years as a result of combined campus and library efforts to develop a campus GIS infrastructure.

Evolution of Technical Approaches to Delivering Geospatial Data

The manner in which libraries have provided access to geospatial information has changed significantly in recent years, with analog map and image offerings increasingly being supplemented by or replaced by digital resources. At NCSU campus-wide networked access to data was initiated in 1993, with data made available both for download and for use online from GIS workstations in a networked environment. By 2000 one began to see more libraries offering Web mapping services, making the GIS content available to a much broader audience, including those who otherwise lacked the skills, software, and data access ordinarily needed to utilize GIS content.

The Early Library Experience with Web Mapping

While the Web mapping…