Geospatial data is information such as maps, imagery and data sets that help us better understand, manage and monitor change in the present while providing insight into the past. From the first colonial maps to the time-sequenced satellite imagery of the 21st century, cartographic information has helped define our view of the country and the world. Today, cartographic materials in digitized form are being collected across a broad spectrum of types. Preserving these digitized images in distributed Internet accessible archives will ensure perpetual access to data vital for disaster relief, resource management, management of environmental policy, analysis of population demographics, education and teaching, plus countless other areas of public interest. To preserve this enormous amount of digitized data, the Library of Congress, the University of California, Santa Barbara and Stanford University have partnered to form the National Geospatial Digital Archive.
Larry Carver is the director of Library Technologies and Digital Initiatives at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the principal investigator of the National Geospatial Digital Archive partnership for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. NDIIPP is the Library's national program dedicated to the preservation of America's digital heritage.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/19/2006 08:53:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
