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GIS & levels of service
OK, its time to respond. Thanks to all of you who have responded,
whether to myself or the list. There were 14 respondents as of
this evening: Larry Cruse, JK Herro, Yves Tessier, Kathryn Womble,
Paul Leverenz, Michael L. Smith, Matthew Gilmore, David Lundquist,
Larry Keenan, Pat Allen, David Cobb, Patrick McGlamery, James
Boxall, and Alice Hudson. (Not all responded with answers to the
questions).
I appreciate the comments and discussion. Lots of variation in
approaches and opinions. And they raise a few dozen more
questions. I'm guessing that none of us are surprised at that.
So, I'll summarize the responses and throw out a few more questions
to keep this discussion going.
What consistently came through is that we CARE about our patrons
and their needs. And that we are willing to do as much as we can
to help. What a nice tribute to all of us for our efforts.
To briefly reflect on Keenan's response sent directly to the list,
James Boxall is RIGHT!!!! I'm not going into business, never have
been, never will be, and I'm not interested in competing with any
cartographer. And let me assure you that copyright issues are at
the forefront of most campuses these days and that includes mine!
By the way, GIS World (Jan 1996 issue) p. 74 has a brief article on
the issue of WEB copyrights. The Feb. 1996, GIS World (p.68) has
a related article on results of a court case in Washington State,
issues of public domain, access to a city's GIS. (The City of
Bellevue lost).
In thinking about Patrick McGlamery's recent comments I don't feel
that Map Librarians have overstepped their bounds by allowing users
(or even ourselves) to create maps. As software is loaded in many
of our campus computer labs, users don't necessarily need us. But
I do believe that there is a problem with software and staff time
in libraries. Read on!
Beyond Mr. Keenan's anger and frustration lies a cartographer's
concern for the quality, accuracy, presentation, etc. of a product.
I'm fortunate to work with someone (in the same building) who has
a master's in Geography and Library Science, who runs our GIS Lab,
and has been a cartographer for 26 years. Ok, enough. I talked
with him about all of this. My co-worker suggests that there is a
demonstrated need for software with "smart defaults". He mentioned
that expert systems might incorporate specialized knowledge (ie
query the user on the purpose of the map and advise or suggest
'best' or 'proper' parameters), based on "good practices" instead
of expediency. Makes sense to me. It seems that Cartographers ARE
losing control (or have lost it) as electronic mapping blossoms.
But why not see some of a cartographer's concerns reflected in the
software design? It may not be the ultimate answer but it might be
a good place to start.
The responses: (too small a sample for any generalizations, but
great for sharing thoughts, suggestions, and
promoting discussions)
1) RE: learning/learned ArcView adequately to produce a map?
4 yes, 2 no
2) Working with someone who has?
4 yes, 1 no
3) Do you make maps for patrons?
2 yes, 3 no, 1 not yet
a) charge?
1 yes, 2 no, 1 not yet
b) turnaround time?
1 indicated "while they wait"
1 indicated "varies"
c) point to computer?
1 yes, 1 no, 2 more or less/suggest tutorials
d) differentiate between users?
4 yes, 1 no
4) Can't provide map?
-refer to gov't agency
-suggest viable alternatives
-have patron check for commercial availability
(Wish I had better communicated my intent with this question.
Sometimes I get students who need a map for a term paper which
isn't just an outline map, or the student doesn't want something
with too much detail -- based on what we have. Often their
interests will be a fairly small site, maybe one of their field
study areas. They aren't interested in spending hours of learning
software to produce their own map. Sometimes I help them with the
Map O'Graph, or show them the light table, or if its for a master's
thesis will suggest one of our cartography grads who is available
for hire. I was just curious how far you folks went in helping
them, apologies for not being clearer).
5) Level of service - what should we be providing?
responses were really diverse and interesting-
-up to you and your own shop, depends upon your situation
-concentration on local/regional data acquisition with
preprocessed data layers
-make available digital map sets, most in CD Rom format, then
allow them to be taken to a lab elsewhere on campus for
further assistance
-utilize ready-made programs and find out where most desirable
raw data resides
-refer user to students who will generate maps for a fee
-dependent on the role of the library as info provider, not
manipulator or interpreter
One of the most interesting responses came from Yves Tessier who
proposes:
"a framework of four levels of service, in logical order of
implementation (with increasing complexity and decreasing
priority). Any development or training could be more
conveniently related to any step of this sequence in this
progressive change.
GOALS RELATING TO GIS LIBRARY SERVICES
1. PROVIDE ACCESS TO DATA
2. SUPPORT INTRODUCTORY MANIPULATION OF DATA
3. PROMOTE USE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
4. OFFER GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS CAPACITY (optional?)
If the role of libraries is more clearly defined, data
providers, librarians and patrons would have a common
understanding of this role and priorities could then be more
easily assigned.
Levels 1 to 3 represent a full cycle of implementation. This
cycle should be gone through by successive iterations, first
familiarization and simple data and processes, then more
complex issues. We can call this approach 'incremental'
implementation."
Wow! I think its a great idea for the map community to establish
a foundation and framework for GIS Library Services. Yves detailed
more in a message to "Carta" on January 30.
Promote training for map librarians, encourage software that has
"smart defaults", recognize great differences exist in institutions
(some may have separate labs, different library goals for service,
etc), emphasize the importance of the map community working
together on this.
A few more questions to promote further discussion:
1) What is our responsibility for "awareness or keeping up" with
what's available on the WEB with regards to data sets?
(One of our faculty says I shouldn't have to - I don't
necessarily agree but I have at least 8 pages of sites I
haven't had time to explore)
2) Recent job descriptions -
Duke Univ. Map & State Docs Lib.
MIT - Rotch Library - Processing Supervisor & Map
Specialist
are looking for those who can "teach ArcView to staff and
students" or under preferred qualifications have a "knowledge
of GIS, especially MapInfo, ARC/INFO"
Are we being realistic about our future roles as Map
Librarians if we don't learn as much as we can? Will job
positions requiring GIS knowledge place us in a "reactive
vs proactive" position, with regards to what we decide
our level of service should be? Or has it already?
Many thanks to Johnnie and all of you for making this discussion
possible!
Best wishes,
Janet Collins
Huxley Map Library
Western Washington University
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