----------------------------Original message---------------------------- This message is being posted to many lists for the widest possible circulation. We apologize for cross-postings. The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC), an open membership consortium, solicits information from industry to guide the OGC Technical Committee in writing the OpenGIS Catalog Services Interfaces part of the OpenGIS Specification, a software specification for interfaces and common services that enable interoperable geoprocessing. Software compliant with OpenGIS Catalog Services Interface Specifications will soon be critical to users and providers of network resident geospatial data and geoprocessing software. The volume of geospatial data is growing exponentially and geodata is becoming available on a growing number of network sites. Within a year, software with OpenGIS Specification compliant interfaces will provide transparent remote access to heterogeneous geodata and geoprocessing resources. Digital catalogs, traders, agents, etc. enabled by interfaces and services compliant with the pending OpenGIS Catalog Services Interfaces Specification will enable users to search for geodata and geoprocessing resources at thousands of such sites (much as Web browsers and search engines enable users to search thousands of html files), but the completeness of the OpenGIS Catalog Services Interfaces Specification depends on complete representation of the concerns of users and providers. Whether or not you are a member of OGC, if you work with digital catalog architectures, geospatial catalogs, and related technologies, please review and respond to "OGC Request Number 3, OpenGIS Services Working Group, A Request for Information: OpenGIS Catalog Service Interfaces" on http://www.opengis.org. The OGC Technical Committee OpenGIS Services Working Group will consider all responses in their work to create consensus-derived specifications for common services that will ensure optimum interoperability in publishing and discovering geodata and geoprocessing resources on networks. The Working Group will accept white papers, research papers, product literature, viewgraphs or other documents describing relevant technologies. This OGC Request for Information (RFI) was first announced August 30, 1996 along with a separate RFI for Earth imaging and a Request for Proposals for implementation specifications for simple geometry. Responses to the Catalog Services RFI are due December 16, 1996. If you have questions, please call Greg Buehler (812-829-2248) or send email to [log in to unmask] Please forward this notice to others who may be interested. About OGC OGC, a consortium of more than eighty corporations, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and universities, coordinates collaborative development of open geoprocessing software technologies and helps organizations work together to develop business approaches related to this new technology. OGC's goal is to create common interfaces that integrate geographic information systems (GIS), Earth imaging, digital cartography, facilities management, navigation, surveying, and other spatial technologies so that users will have unimpeded network-based access to heterogeneous geodata and geoprocessing resources. OGC's efforts ensure that geographic information of all kinds will be an important and fully integrated part of the emerging national and global information infrastructures, serving a wide range of human needs. OpenGIS is a trademark of the Open GIS Consortium, Inc. --- end --- Lance McKee Vice President, Corporate Communications Open GIS Consortium, Inc. 35 Main Street, Suite 5 Wayland, MA 01778 USA tel: 508-655-5858 fax: 508-655-2237 [log in to unmask]