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Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 15:39:01 -0500
From: Kent Lee <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: re[2]: ACCESS TO HISTORICAL MAPS DENIED AT ARCHIVES <fwd>
Sender: Kent Lee <[log in to unmask]>
To: Mark Thomas <[log in to unmask]>, John Sutherland
Dear Mark, List:
As a vendor of international JOGs and as someone very interested in issues relating to any restrictions on maps or other geospatial data, here are a few inputs to the current thread.
First, an attempt at definitions: JOGs or Joint Operations Graphics are 1:250,000 scale topographic maps produced by the US military, its NATO allies, and sometimes also in cooperation with various partner countries. In the US they are also know as Series 1501, and are produced now by NIMA and earlier by its predecessor agency, the DMA. Prior to the DMA, the Army Map Service (AMS) produced this scale of maps, but I think these are formally not Series 1501 JOGs. There are Air-JOGs and Ground-JOGs (with differences in sheet content), and any particular JOG sheet may have multiple editions as it is revised according to US military requirements over time. As for the FDLP, my understanding is that NIMA-produced JOGs have basically fallen out of the program, not necessarily because of restrictions, but perhaps more because of the consequences of agency transformations: AMS to DMA to NIMA, with each successive mutation resulting in fewer maps being made available to map libraries as depository items.
1. By our count there are ca. 9781 JOGs covering the world, not including the vast majority of Antractica. This is the theoretical maximum. But not all have been published, as we understand.
2. Of these, it is easier to say which are currently available than which are currently restricted. NIMA does not openly publish a list of which JOGs exist, or which JOGs are restricted. What they do publish is a list of which JOGs are currently available. At East View we have determined this to be about 1400 sheets. We stock about 1300 of these sheets. Here is a link to a global graphic of the available sheets:
http://www.cartographic.com/topographic_maps.asp
3. There are other JOG-equivalents available from NIMA in raster (so-called ADRGs) and vector (VMAP-1) sources Global coverage of these data overlaps but also extends the coverage of the JOG paper maps.
4. In addition, many JOGs in paper format are openly available as national map series from the respective local countries--although NIMA may restrict (or simply not offer) the same maps to the public. A good example is Thailand; for many Latin American countries this is also the case. Here, the apparent rationale from NIMA is that the maps (not just JOGs, but also larger scale) have been produced in cooperation with local authorities, and at the time of agreement NIMA promised not to make the maps publicly available in exchange for the local country's provision of quality (and sensitive) inputs, like fresh aerial photos, geographic name information, and the like. When such co-production restrictions are in force, chances are that they will last forever and NIMA will never formally release the maps. However getting them direct from the country in question, or via a vendor, is another story. Our understanding is that NIMA never objects to such maps becoming available this way--it is really a matter left up to the local country.
5. Apart from the above, there are at least two other systematic restrictions applied by NIMA which affect the availability of JOGs and many other geospatial data. The first is usually unstated, and is based on national security considerations. It affects the fact that no JOGs are available for, for example, China, Taiwan, South Korea, North Korea, etc. NIMA will never tell you that these maps are unavailable; they just won't tell you that they are not available. In some cases, such as with Ethiopia and Eritrea, once-available NIMA JOGs get withdrawn, usually quietly, with NIMA simply saying that the maps can no longer be supplied.
6. The other systematic restriction applies to JOGs and other maps of US allies (NATO other other) who, as a rule, have strong national copyright policies--in contrast to the pure public-domain status of NIMA maps and virtually all USG publications. This is why you will never get from NIMA (and thus never through the FDLP) JOGs of Australia, Canada, the UK, and most Western European countries. (Old AMS 1:250k and other scale topo maps are another issue.) Happily, however, it is easy to purchase such JOG-equivalent maps directly from their producers or via vendors. But don't try to make copies unless you want Ordnance Survey lawyers appearing en masse at your doorstep!
7. NIMA restriction policies are by their nature complex and not well promulgated, but to date have really only been enforced with respect to the non-military federal government entities which hold maps for the public's use or acquisition: Library of Congress, NARA, and USGS. I am not aware of NIMA seeking to apply or enforce its map restriction policies on libraries, although in an earlier posting to this list I mentioned that East View was asked to return and no longer sell a VMAP-2 product (vector 1:50k NIMA topo mapping) over US territory. It seems to me a dubious undertaking--if the motivation is national security, or to preserve US battlefield advantages--to apply restrictions to maps which have already entered the public domain only to those maps held in LC, NARA or USGS. Logically one would want to restrict access to the same maps in other collections, public, private, and academic. And logically also--to restrict similar or superior-quality maps, first of all Russian military topo maps. At East View we are very concerned about the slippery-slope side of this whole question.
Best regards,
Kent
Kent D. Lee
President/CEO
East View Cartographic, Inc.
3020 Harbor Lane N.
Minneapolis, MN 55447 USA
Tel: 763-550-0961
Fax: 763-559-2931
Email: [log in to unmask]
URL: www.eastview.com, www.cartographic.com
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