GEODYSSEY

Applied GIS

geolibrarian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:42:30 +0000

Applied GIS is an double-blind peer referred OA journal established to:

“provide a publishing outlet for those researchers whose work depends on coloured maps that coventional, paper-based publishers are usually reluctant to make plates for.”

Digital Library for Earth System Education

geolibrarian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:12:11 +0000

The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) is a distributed community effort involving educators, students, and scientists working together to improve the quality, quantity, and efficiency of teaching and learning about the Earth system at all levels.

DLESE is an OAI-compliant subject-based repository listed with OpenDOAR, the Directory of Open Access Repositories.

GeoNames

geolibrarian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:54:01 +0000

The GeoNames database is an excellent resource for georeferencing placenames, and is available for download free of charge under a Creative Commons attribution license. It contains over eight million geographical names and consists of 6.5 million unique features, including 2.2 million populated places and 1.8 million alternate names.

A text search for any named place, if it is in the database, results in a record display that includes data such as feature class and lat/long, and a link to a map display of the location.

Living Cybercartographic Atlas of Indigenous Perspectives and Knowledge

geolibrarian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:26:11 +0000

The Living Cybercartographic Atlas of Indigenous Perspectives and Knowledge is an online multimedia entity begun by a group from Carleton University. It follows the green model of OA in that it serves as a self-archiving repository, allowing community members to input their own unique knowledge. The contributions are then built into the atlas as a variety of interactive multimedia stories. The atlas is intended as an educational and knowledge-sharing tool.

OSGeo

geolibrarian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:52:41 +0000

OSGeo is the wiki and portal for the development, maintenance, dissemination and use of software for the open source geospatial software community.

GeoBase

geolibrarian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:09:59 +0000

Another portal to free geospatial data, GeoBase is:

a federal, provincial and territorial government initiative that is overseen by the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG). It is undertaken to ensure the provision of, and access to, a common, up-to-date and maintained base of quality geospatial data for all of Canada. Through the GeoBase portal, users with an interest in the field of geomatics have access to quality geospatial information at no cost and with unrestricted use.

GeoGratis

geolibrarian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:06:07 +0000

As the name suggests, GeoGratis is the place to get free geospatial data, offered by the Earth Sciences Sector (ESS) of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). This data is useful for both novice and expert users, but does require a geographic information system (GIS) for use.

GeoConnections

geolibrarian — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:59:57 +0000

GeoConnections is a portal to data and services designed to:

support projects that enable decision-makers to use location-based information to benefit public health, safety and security, the environment, and Aboriginal communities.

The GeoConnections program not only provides data, but offers standards and guidelines for the use and dissemination of geospatial data, having had a prominent role in the creation of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure ( see post on CGDI).

Viewpoints: The American Chemical Society and Open Access

geolibrarian — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:59:12 +0000

This is an interesting article regarding the American Chemical Society’s negative position on Open Access. They have apparently made claims that OA could

“undermine the peer review process” and even “open the door to scientific censorship in the form of selective additions to or omissions from the scientific record.”

From the OA journal Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship.

International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research

geolibrarian — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:56:54 +0000

ISSN 1725-0463

The International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research is a peer-reviewed “gold” OA journal listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). It’s aim is “to further the scientific endeavor underpinning the development, implementation and use of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). These are defined as frameworks of technologies, data, policies, institutional arrangements, and people aimed at increasing the availability, understanding, and use of spatial data and services to support policy, business, research, and society at large.”

Sample article: Goodchild, Michael F. (2007). Citizens as voluntary sensors: spatial data infrastructure in the world of Web 2.0. International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research, 2, 24-32. Retrieved June 11, 2008.

Michael F. Goodchild is a well known and respected academic in the geography field, and Professor and Chair of the National Center for Geographic Analysis at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In keeping with the OA model it has been published under, this paper explores the potential of volunteered geographic information (VGI) for filling a potential gap between traditional mapping and remote sensing in the acquisition of geographic information.

And for balance, here is a blog arguing against the idea of VGI.