Developing an Online Resource Center about

Geospatial Data Preservation

Robert R. Downs and Robert S. Chen

Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) The Earth Institute, Columbia University

Presentation to the 37th Annual Conference of the International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology

(IASSIST)

Vancouver, BC, Canada

June 2, 2011

Abstract

Like other scientific artifacts that are in digital form, geospatial data, maps, and other

spatial information products and services are at risk of being lost if not preserved for

future use. Enabling the future use of geospatial data can foster new opportunities for

learning and facilitate capabilities for scientific investigations to build on the results of

previous research. A key challenge is to promote awareness of the need for

preservation and the approaches, methods, and tools available to support preservation

efforts. Providing developers and managers of geospatial information with web-based

tools and information resources to preserve geospatial data can contribute to

capabilities for enabling long-term access to geospatial data. The Geospatial Data

Preservation Resource Center is being developed to provide communities of geospatial

data professionals, scientific data librarians, and others interested in the preservation of

geospatial assets with resources to assist them in preserving our geospatial information

heritage. The presentation describes the design and development of an online resource

center about the preservation of geospatial data, including a survey of the geospatial

data management community conducted to inform its design and identify expectations

for use.

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Need for Geospatial Data Stewardship

• Geospatial data represent valuable information about our present and past

• Some geospatial data need to be preserved, not only for research, but also

for decision making and other applications

• Scientific data, including geospatial, are at risk, especially because they are

managed by diverse groups in diverse settings

• Tools, guides, standards and reports on geospatial data stewardship are

available or being developed that could help to improve capabilities for

preserving geospatial data and making them accessible in the long run

• Improving awareness of these resources and expanding the community of

practice are therefore essential

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Geospatial Data Preservation Resource Center:

Development Overview

• Sponsored by the National Digital Information Infrastructure and

Preservation Program (NDIIPP) of the Library of Congress

• Develop and manage an online resource center to serve as a

clearinghouse of information about the preservation of geospatial data

• Establish advisory committee to guide development

• Conduct survey of potential users to identify expectations of use

• Stages of iterative design, review, and development

– Alpha and Beta reviews prior to each release, based on knowledge gained

– Initial releases in October and December 2010

– Formal release in May 2011

• Continuing community evaluation via survey available on website

• Continuing updates and enhancement

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Advisory Committee

• Early and continuing guidance for design and development

• Established interdisciplinary advisory committee

– 12 members representing government, academia, and industry

– Geospatial data creators, users, archivists, librarians, providers

• Advisory Committee Meetings

– Library of Congress staff participation

– Initial face-to-face meeting at beginning of project

– Teleconferences every 6 months

• Active advisory committee

– Reviews at each stage of development

– Helpful advice and suggestions offered

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Resource Center Objectives

• Promote awareness of geospatial data preservation needs and approaches

• Facilitate development of a broader community of both developers and users of

geospatial preservation tools and resources at both national and international levels

and across diverse disciplines and application areas

• Improve accessibility and usability of geospatial data preservation resources by a

broad audience of users

• Improve access to tools and services that can help users find and access current and

planned resources relevant to their practices

• Develop selected new resources to address key gaps or issues for which existing

materials are not adequate

• Provide an educational and training resource for those developing new educational

and training materials

• Assist in addressing organizational needs faced by educational institutions, research

centers, government agencies, non-profit organizations, commercial businesses, and

other entities.

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Design of Survey of Potential Users

• Purpose: Obtain information on expectations of use of the clearinghouse from

potential users to inform its design and development

• Subjects: Adult professionals engaged in the creation, use, management, and

preservation of geospatial data

• Recruitment conducted via Email to many Listserver Discussion Groups

• Web-based Survey Administration

• Anonymous respondents

– No IP addresses collected

– Respondents asked to not provided identifying information

• Approved by the Columbia University Institutional Review Board (IRB)

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Survey Results

• Survey was open from July 9, 2010 to September 5, 2010

• Respondents: 464

– Completed survey between July 9, 2010 and September 4, 2010

• Each multiple choice question answered by 250+ respondents

• The number of respondents answering each question varied

– Respondents were not required to answer every question

• Received limited responses to open (text) questions

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Kinds of Geospatial Data Used

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80.7% (247)

Based on answers from 306 respondents

Respondents’ Employer

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Other Responses:

Government contractor (4)

Inter-governmental organization (2)

Library consortium (2)

Federal government archives

Scientific society

GIS manufacturer

Self-employed consultant

Based on answers from 304 respondents

Concern for Preserving Geospatial

Data That I Develop

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Based on answers from 298 respondents

Concern for Preservation of

Geospatial Data from Other Sources

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Based on answers from 298 respondents

Help for Long-Term Usability

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Based on answers from 277 respondents

Use of Online Clearinghouse

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Based on answers from 274 respondents

Geospatial Preservation Topics of Interest

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Based on answers from 278 respondents

Resources of Most Interest

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Average rating on a

scale ranging from

Extremely Important (4)

to N/A (0)

Based on answers from 259 respondents

Increase Effectiveness for Doing My Job

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Based on answers from 260 respondents

Audience, Organizations, and Supported Activities

• Identified Target Audience

– Geospatial data producers, providers, preservers, and users

• Identified Target Organizations

– academic and research institutions

– government agencies

– data centers and digital archives

– non-profit and non-governmental organizations

– businesses and consulting firms

– museums and libraries

– standards bodies

– education and training organizations

• Identified Activities to Support

– creation, description, dissemination, integration, analysis, preservation, processing, and

tool and standards development

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Name, Priorities, Concepts, Use Cases

• Identified Initial Content Priorities

– Relevant standards, tools, policies, and best practices

• Initial Concepts for Identifying and Organizing Content Topics

– Geospatial data life cycle

– Geospatial data preservation tools and resources (by data type)

– Geospatial data preservation community resources

– Specific geospatial data topics and examples

• General Use Cases

– Obtaining information to justify the preservation of geospatial data

– Acquiring knowledge on the preservation of digitized maps

– Learning about the preservation of Geographical Information System (GIS) data

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Website Title and Domain Name

• Website Title

– Geospatial Data Preservation Resource Center

– Considered “Portal,” “Clearinghouse”, “Community of Practice”,

“Catalog”, and others

• Domain Name

– http://geopreservation.org

– Selected as a memorable URL

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Initial Development and Release

• Identified 95 categories of content reflecting comments and suggestions

– Used content categories to identify relevant content

– Selected content for most categories

– Populated the database initially with 300+ resources

• Identified resource types to exclusively group content

– Applications for download, Applications online, Community blogs and forums, Online

journal articles, presentations, Real-world examples, Reports, Standards, Tutorials and

learning resources, Websites

• Established Featured Resources and Criteria for Selection

– Available to anybody for free, updated recently, not commercial, not our own sites

• Developed database, cataloging, and browse capabilities for resources

– Enable cataloging of content and categorizing by topic and type of resource

– Enable selection of categories of content by topic, type of resource, or both

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Home Page – Initial Release

Incremental Improvements in Second Release

• Populated all 95 topic categories (340 resources).

• Re-organized site and simplified home page

– Query composition capabilities to search titles from home page

– Only include search and browse by topic on home page

– Advanced search page for browsing by topic and resource type

• Improved clarity and context

– Revised descriptions on home and about pages

– Added NDIIPP credit and link to footer

• Improved usability of features

– Reset buttons to clear previous searches by topic or by resource type

– Instructions for deselecting previously selected topic or resource type categories

• Added a featured resource section to each page

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Release 2 – Home Page

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Formal Release of Resource Center

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• Home page highlighting resources for various users and uses

– Recently Added” section to feature last 3 resources added to database

– Links to searches for Education & Training, Tools, and Digital Preservation Policy

– Quick links for categories of users (data managers, system developers, researchers)

• Content and search capabilities

– Added new resources (400+ total) and combined several topic categories

– Added descriptions to improve content in search index

– Added page for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Experimental Google appliance service to search a selected item

– Also displays message informing users to enable javascript if not enabled

• Appearance and usability

– Relabeled features and enabled text wrapping for different browsers

– Revised banner to include images of data and maps

– Added contact information, instructions ,and Help buttons to show or hide useful tips

– Added featured resources and images or icons to improve visibility

Home Page – Formal Release

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Quick Links to Individual Pages for

Data Managers, System Developers, and Researchers

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Convenient Links to Results for Selected Topics

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FAQ

Page –

Formal

Release

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Future Development

• Planned resource center improvements

– Enable users to suggest questions and answers for the FAQ

– Enable alternative browse capabilities using weighted tag clouds

– Add terms for resources in index to improve search results

– Enable RSS feed capabilities for all new items added

– Revise displayed topic descriptions to improve clarity

– Display brief description for each resource in results list

– Enable capabilities for user login and submission of resources

– Enable capabilities for administrative review, edit, and approval of resources submitted

by users

• Follow-up user survey and analysis

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Thank you!

We appreciate the assistance on the development of the

Geospatial Data Preservation Resource Center that has

been received from members of the Advisory

Committee, NDIIPP staff at the Library of Congress,

CIESIN staff, and anonymous survey respondents.

http://geopreservation.org

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