-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: Cataloging non-published GIS data sets
Date:   Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:21:52 -0700
From:   Jon Jablonski <[log in to unmask]>
Organization:   University of Oregon
To:     [log in to unmask]
References:     <[log in to unmask]>



2 replies in one!

Dawn Youngblood said:
> Great question.  I have made efforts to encourage researchers to deposit
> data sets with the library for preservation and access, but have met
> resistance.  Apparently, most researchers are more interested in
> retaining personal control over their data than they are in sharing or
> preserving it... I would be interested to know if other libraries have
> succeeded in GIS data curation.

I have had limited success, but one group has been great: my fluvial
geomorphologists who do photogrammetry.  They occasionally need to
purchase a few photos from USDA in order to fill gaps in some of our
library projects.  They have been excellent in providing us with:

--their print photos once they are finished with them.  This helps to
  flesh out our own collection.
--geo-referenced versions of scanned photos that they have gotten from
  us.  This has really spurred our efforts to geo-reference more scanned
  imagery.  Now if only I had a discovery and access mechanism in place
  for all of this data that we're generating.

> How many of you catalog your non-published GIS datasets in your online
> catalogs? By non-published, I mean those datasets you acquire locally,
> with our without license restrictions that weren't ever published or
> distributed via depository or sale? Do you enter them in OCLC or just
> locally? Do you also provide access to metadata via a web based finding
> aid?

Alot of our data collections are 'informally' published, and they go in
the OPAC.  This is an inadequate solution though, because there is no
attempt to generate layer-level metadata.  To fill the gap, we have
started to place shapefiles on a shared drive and describe them (all too
briefly) on a web page.  See:
        http://libweb.uoregon.edu/map/gis_data/data_in_commons.html

-Jon Jablonski
 UOregon Maps.