PREFACE

     The Mapping Science Committee serves as a focus for external advice to federal agencies on scientific and technical matters related to spatial data handling and analysis. The purpose of the committee is to provide advice on the development of a robust national spatial data infrastructure for making informed decisions at all levels of government and throughout society in general.

     The concept of a national spatial data infrastructure (NSDI) was first advanced by the Mapping Science Committee (MSC) in its 1993 report, Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Subsequent MSC reports have addressed specific components of the NSDI, including partnerships (Promoting the National Spatial Data Infrastructure Through Partnerships, 1994), basic data types (A Data Foundation for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, 1995), and future trends (The Future of Spatial Data and Society, 1997).

     When the NSDI was defined in 1993, few users or producers of geospatial data* made much use of the Internet or the World-Wide Web (WWW). Although there was emphasis on digital geospatial data, the primary method of dissemination was by magnetic tape. There were virtually no digital online catalogs of geospatial data or methods for searching for data across computer networks. Moreover, since most useful geospatial data were produced by a small number of federal agencies, there was little problem locating the appropriate source. Today, the WWW has grown into an enormously successful tool and has had a profound impact on the entire environment for geospatial data acquisition. At the same time, it has presented a growing problem as the number of potential suppliers has mushroomed, in its inability to deal effectively with the task of discovering what geoinformation exists and of locating an appropriate source.

     This report can be understood therefore as an updating of the MSC's concept of the NSDI in the era of the WWW. In organizing this effort and producing this report, the committee is expressing its view that the WWW has added a new and radically different dimension to its earlier conception of NSDI, one that is much more user oriented, much more effective in maximizing the value of the nation's geospatial data assets, and much more cost effective as a data dissemination mechanism. Distributed geolibraries reflect the same basic thinking about the future of geospatial data, which emphasizes sharing, universal access, and productivity but in the context of a technology that was almost impossible to anticipate prior to 1993.

     A panel under the aegis of the MSC convened a workshop to explore the following topics:

• Development of a vision for geospatial data dissemination and access in 2010.
  
• Comparison of current efforts in digital library research, clearinghouse development, and other data distribution and search activities.
  
• Suggestion of short- and long-term research and development needed to achieve the vision.
  
• Identification of the policy and institutional issues, particularly for convergence of efforts to realize the vision.

By clarifying the vision of distributed geolibraries and identifying some of the key issues, it is hoped that the workshop and this report will provide a common focus for the many efforts already under way and will stimulate new and expanded efforts. The workshop was only a first step in this process, and many issues remain to be clarified by further discussions, research, and development of prototypes.

     The report makes extensive use of the traditional library as a framework for discussion because it is so familiar and well understood. Undoubtedly, much future work in researching and developing distributed geolibraries will occur within this framework, but the framework will also be constraining in some respects. Exactly how distributed geolibraries develop and how closely they follow the metaphor of the library remain to be seen. Moreover, the metaphor is used selectively, since many of the functions of libraries that may have no equivalent in distributed geolibraries were not discussed at the workshop, and may not be relevant.

     The workshop began on Monday, June 15, 1998, and followed the agenda given in Appendix C. Workshop participants were selected in such a way that all major sectors of the NSDI community and geospatial data activity were represented by their respective stakeholders, with an appropriate balance among them. Of the participants, 35 percent were from federal and state government, 39 percent were from academia, 12 percent were from the private sector, and 14 percent were from other sectors (e.g., associations). See Appendix A for a list of participants. Another way of considering the participants is by their primary focus--44 percent with a geospatial background, 36 percent from computing science and engineering, 12 percent from the library sciences, and 8 percent "other."

     The Panel on Distributed Geolibraries coordinated the prepar-ation of a series of white papers in advance of the workshop to stimulate discussion on certain key issues. These were posted on the WWW several weeks prior to the workshop and were available to participants and others who happened across them. Titles of the white papers for the workshop are given in Appendix B.

     This report reflects the consensus of the panel regarding the discussions that took place at the workshop, the issues that arose there and in the white papers, and the workshop's broader context.