Thanks for your help Ian.
I'm trying to make a point about the expense and labor required in "traditional mapping projects" and show how the principles of open source software development can be applied to mapping as a way to improve geospatial data quality and quantity. I thought I remembered reading that the availability of the Census data made GIS a practical venture for many US organizations. Without that "free" source of data the start-up costs for most geographic information systems would have been to great. If I can't find another source for this point of view I will leave it out my article. The Sunburned Surveyor ________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ian White|Urban Mapping Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:29 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Geowanking] Two things... You might have opened a Pandora's box viz access to geodata in the US, but I'll be brief ;).... The US government can't hold copyright (ok, there are exceptions--sort of, but not relevant here) protection. The Census works with states & municipalities to produce TIGER line files and they are freely available for whatever purpose you desire...They have been converted to SHP by various parties but that is not their native format. I'm not sure what sort of confirmation you are looking for. You can start reading here: http://tiger.census.gov/ ESRI has made TIGER data easier to access and converted to SHP. It can be found here: http://www.esri.com/data/download/census2000_tigerline/index.html The experience outside of the US is (vastly) different and stands in great contrast to open and accessible geodata. OpenStreetMap is a great example of a 'mega-work around.' Jo Walsh and others can better speak to EU policies, open initiatives I heard about a report that tried to measure the value added to national base map data--in the US this is significant (given the initial cost). In other countries, not so much, given the cost to access such geodata. Not sure if I read about that on this list... i Ian White :: Urban Mapping, Inc 690 Fifth Street Suite 200 :: San Francisco CA 94107 T 415.946.8170 :: F 866.385.8266 :: www.urbanmapping.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Landon Blake <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:01:48 AM GMT-0800 US/Pacific Subject: [Geowanking] Two things... The first thing is a question. I have heard that one of the things that enable GIS to start in the United States was the availability of the TIGER Shapefiles from the US Census Bureau. Is this correct? Does anyone know where I might find some published or online information confirming this? I'm putting together an article on a concept I call "community Mapping" and I'd like to verify and include this information in my introduction if possible. The second thing is an announcement. I'm going to try and get a GIS user group started here in the north end of the San Joaquin Valley. (It might end up as a chapter of the OSGeo???) I've still got a lot of work to do to get the thing off the ground, but the ball is rolling. You can visit the website for the user group here: www.eastdeltagis.redefinedhorizons.com <http://www.eastdeltagis.redefinedhorizons.com/> Right now the site just points to a wiki, but I hope to have something a little more artistic there after the holiday break. If any wankers are hanging out in the California Central Valley I'd love to have their participation. This will not be a user group centered on a single company's GIS software, which means its agenda won't be driven by corporate dollars. I actually hope to promote open source GIS efforts at the user group. The Sunburned Surveyor Warning: Information provided via electronic media is not guaranteed against defects including translation and transmission errors. If the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this information in error, please notify the sender immediately.
_______________________________________________ Geowanking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking
