Recently I sent a message asking for more information and
reactions to the GEOname digital gazetteer, and promised this summary
to the list. I sent the GEOname manager a short summary of the
responses and have included his reply at the end of the
summary. The GEOname CD-ROM has now been ordered for the Map
Collection here at U. Georgia.
Johnnie D. Sutherland
University of Georgia
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One of the first messages that came in was from David Cobb.--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Message 1
----------------------------------------------------------------
>Date: Wed, 6 Sep 1995 08:40:17 -0400 (EDT)
>From: David Cobb <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: US Board on Geographic Names CD-ROM
It is DEFINTELY worth the money and relatively easy to use. Initially,
there are a few quirks to work out - like clearing all coordinated
between searchs - but we have been quite pleased with it so far and have
allowed patrons to search on it solo. Certain subject searches (i.e.
archeological ruins) have resulted in few "hits" but I believe this to be
the weakness of the original DMA foreign gazetteers.
Like the USGS GNIS, it is convenient to have this information on one CD,
in one's library (vs. the Internet and its vagaries), and it is not
perfect - but certainly more than adequate.
******************************************************************************
David A. Cobb Tel (617) 495-2417
Harvard Map Collection FAX (617) 496-0440
Harvard University E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Cambridge, MA 02138
VE * RI * TAS
*****************************************************************************
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In these two messages Larry Cruse and Pat McGlammery told me that the CD-ROM
was going to be reviewed in the WAML Information Bulletin.--
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Messages 2 and 3
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>From: [log in to unmask]
>Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 14:53:00 -0700
>Subject: Re: US Board on Geographic Names CD-ROM
we're publishing a review in the Nov. WAML IB, but it may be
the domestic version only. ......
LC
---------------------------------------------
>Date: 05 Sep 95 17:32:10 EDT
>From: Pat McGlamery <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: US Board on Geographic Names CD-ROM
I have a review copy of the GDE product. I will be publishing a review
for WAML. ......
(Patrick went on to say he had not yet finished reviewing the CD, so was not
yet able to comment. --Johnnie)
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This message was from Linda Zellmer.--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Message 4
-----------------------------
>Date: Wed, 06 Sep 1995 07:51:55 -0700 (MST)
>From: Linda Zellmer <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: US Board on Geographic Names Gazetteer CD-ROM
Johnnie,
I saw your posting to Maphist, and thought that I might e-mail you
with my ideas on this product.
Seems to me, this would be the equivalent of all of the place names
on the digital chart of the World. Could you get the same thing
by doing a place name search on DCW? I am really disturbed at the
idea of private companies re-packaging items issued by the US
Government. Since we do not have a regional depository, I am still
waiting to get my DCW. Finally getting Arcview this fall. Things
move slowly when budgets are tight.
Bye for now,
Linda Zellmer
University of Wyoming
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Another message came slightly second hand so I will not identify the sender.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message 5
----------------------------------
FWIW: Today I received the info below from
MAPS-L. Prices are mentioned.
Note that the Defense Mapping Agency is a US
Federal Government entity, and that copyright is not
available to the Federal Government (Title 17 of the
Code of Federal Regulations). Copyrighting items that
contain public domain information does not take the
public domain information out of the public domain.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This last message is the GEOname response to the questions I raised in the
original info question message that started this thread and to the messages
in this summary.--
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GEOname Message
------------------------
>Date: Wed, 6 Sep 1995 17:06:45 -0700
>From: [log in to unmask] (brett carey)
>Subject: The Geoname Digital Gazetteer
Dear Mr. Sutherland,
Thanks for keeping me informed about the replies you've been receiving
regarding Geoname. I thought I would send you this message to answer some
of the questions that were posed by these replies.
Your first reply brought up the question about whether the information
provided by Geoname is essentially the same as the names provided in the
Digital Chart of the World (DCW). The DCW contains roughly 152,000 named
populated places (there are an additional 54,000 that are just points with
no name). There are also an undefined number of named features covering
roads, rivers, mountains, administrative areas and others (I talked to
Andrew Fleck, ADC WorldMap Product Manager, and apparently they have never
bothered to count the other named features. WorldMap is ADC's enhanced
version of the DCW). Basically, the DCW provides enough names to
adequately populate a map of 1:1,000,000 scale. According to the U.S.
Defense Mapping Agency, their names database provides enough names to
approximate a map of 1:250,000 scale for most areas. With over 4 million
feature names, most of which are populated places, Geoname would be a far
more effective source for names data then the DCW.
Your second reply made a very correct statement about the inability of
companies to copyright public domain data. GDE Systems makes no claim to
the actual names stored within Geoname. However, we have filed copyright
over the display technology used to present names with their appropriate
diacritics and special characters. Therefore, no copyright violation would
occur if someone were to export all of our names to another media (paper,
computer disk) as long as they transfered names without diacritics- an
option that is available in Geoname's preferences/export menu. If names
with diacritics are transfered to a hardcopy source, a citation must be
made to identify GDE Systems as the supplier of the names. Names with
diacritics that are exported to digital media may not be resold without
consideration forwarded to GDE Systems. Incidently, we also have copyright
over all of the software used to support Geoname.
Your third reply implies that two versions of Geoname exist- a domestic and
an international version. There is only one version of Geoname which
covers every country but the U.S. and its territories. The U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) produces a CD which contains 1.5 million names for the U.S.
and its territories. There are several companies that have enhanced the
data provided by the USGS by adding addresses, zip codes and various types
of demographic data.
There were also a few other questions including: "How easy is the CD to
use?, How easy is it to transfer Geoname data to Arcview?, Does the product
work over a LAN?, and Is Geoname the only CD source for the DMA's names
database (the Geographic Names Database or GNDB)?". We went to a great
deal of trouble to ensure that Geoname is very user friendly. I believe
that if someone were to just sit in front of Geoname they would be able to
operate about 90% of the program's capabilities without reviewing
directions. Perhaps the best indication of Geoname's friendliness is the
fact that although we have sold many, we have not received one phone call
asking how the product works.
Transferring data to Arcview is not a job for a novice. On the Geoname
side, the process is simple; a few clicks of the mouse and you're done. On
the Arcview side, you must have an understanding of the Arcview environment
to import the data. As an example, our systems engineer had the
responsibility of testing Geoname's export capability to Arcview. When he
started he had almost no knowledge of Arview. 2 hours later he was able to
successfully import names from Geoname into ESRI's DCW via Arcview.
Access to Geoname over a LAN has not been tested. Two weeks ago, we were
conducting a network simulation and before we could finish the test, my
software engineer received an emergency transfer to help develop software
for a contract we recently won. I expect to get him back in two months.
Thus far I have handled this situation by telling clients that they will
recieve a full refund if Geoname does not work over their network. To
date, no one that I am aware of has attempted to network Geoname.
Finally, there is one other CD source for the DMA's GNDB. Rutgers
University offers a CD package product called Global GRASS which contains,
among other things, an old version of the DMA's GNDB. Global Grass has two
major drawbacks. First, the product uses the Phase 2 version of the GNDB;
the present version is Phase 3 (Geoname uses the present version). In an
attempt to cut costs, data for Phase 2 was input by prisoners in the U.S.
penitentiary system. As a result, the database is frought with errors and
is generally viewed as being of poor quality. The newer version has been
reviewed by DMA cartographers. Second, the DMA data used by Global GRASS
has not been converted to any standard formats and is non-transferable to
any other application. At this time, only GDE Systems is capable of
translating DMA files into standard readable formats.
I hope this information is useful to you, and I appreciate the opportunity
to comment on the various replies you have received. Actually its quite
fun to address these questions. I hope I get a chance to do this again
soon.
Sincerely,
Brett Carey
Geoname Marketing Manger
Brett A. Carey
GDE Systems Inc. (a Tracor company)
P.O. Box 509009 (Mail Zone 1117-I)
San Diego, CA 92150-9009
phone: (619) 675-2623
fax: (619) 675-1721
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
home page: http://www.GDEsystems.Com
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