[ Digimap ]The internet map collection

for UK academia

Dr Hugh BuchananUser Support Co-ordinator

Data Library, University of Edinburgh

What is Digimap?

• Web based mapping service• access to Ordnance Survey map data

– creation of on-screen maps

– printing of maps

– downloading map data

• potential subscribers 170 institutions, user base 1 million people

• currently 40 institutions (January 2000)

Stakeholders - JISC : funding body for Digimap

• Joint Information Systems Committee – joint between government higher education

funding councils of UK

• DNER - Distributed National Electronic Resource

• centrally funded resources for UK academia• subscription element for high-value resources

Stakeholders - Ordnance Survey : data supplier

• national mapping organisation for Great Britain• costs recovered from users through

data licensing and map publishing• interests

– maximise use of their data

– stimulate awareness of data

– minimise direct user support

– protect intellectual property rights

Stakeholders - EDINA : operates and supports Digimap

• data centre supporting UK academia• run by Data Library, Edinburgh University• one of three in UK

– others BIDS (Bath), MIMAS (Manchester)

• interests– successful service

– cost effective user support

– integration with other data services

Stakeholders - Laser-Scan : main software supplier

• specialist UK-based software company• expertise in GIS and mapping

– handling large quantities of data

– handling large numbers of simultaneous users

• supplier to many national mapping agencies• web enabled software

Stakeholders - higher education institutions

• staff and students are users of service• interests

– cost-effective information resource

– complementary to existing map collections

– minimise support requirements

– benefit to teaching and research

Stakeholder relationships

££

£

£

maps usersOrdnance

Survey

Joint InformationSystems Committee

HigherEducationInstitutionEDINA

Laser-Scansoftware

UK highereducation funding

Data available through Digimap

Strategi®• 1:250 000• National coverage

Land-FormPANORAMA™

• 1:50 000• National coverage• Contours and DTM

Land-Line.Plus®

• 1:10 000 - 1:1250• 30% of national coverage

1: 50 000 Place Names Gazetteer - 250 000 place names

Annual Updates

Annual Updates

Annual Updates

Meridian™

• 1:50 000• National coverage

How we have made the data usable...

© Crown copyright

Supporting a heterogeneous user community

• OS data are complex, current knowledge low

• Significant amount of support on offer on-line

Training courses/user forums On-line help and tutorials Teaching resources Case studies Glossaries

Helpdesk Educational materials Mailbase lists/discussion forums Links to other resources

• Local support within institution crucial– Technical and subject experts– EDINA assists sites in training staff to support service

Users of the Digimap pilot, 1997-99

Undergraduate49%

Postgraduate20%

Research/Staff31%

by category(as of 13/6/1999)

n=850

Engineering and Physical Sciences

18%

Medical Research5%

Natural Environment

11%

Other4%

Information Services

15%

Arts & Humanities5%

Biotechnology & Biological Sciences

16%

Particle Physics & Astronomy

1%

Economic & Social Sciences

25%

by faculty(as of 1/4/1999)

n=616

80% of users are non-

Geographers!

Search

Place name:

OS tilename:

Preview/Browse View

Overview of Digimap system

Output

Printed Map

Land-linent4567.ntfse12ne.ntfsp5806.ntfsp5807.ntfsp5808.ntfsp5809.ntf

01ORDNANCE Survey00LSPS_1.2(NTF)40OR004R4,140DT005R5,3 PYLON00IDPOINT OF ANY 050001 40DT005R5,3 DISTANCE\THE

DataDownload

Terms of use

• teaching and research activities • publication only for teaching or research• place of use

– use within universities allowed

– limited home use allowed

– workplace use not allowed

– limited non-UK use possible

– graphic images only to be downloaded outside UK

Technology

• basic facilities: server-side Web application– universal access

– minimal hardware and software requirements

– limited functionality

• advanced facilities: client-side Java application– steeper learning curve

– more demanding on hardware and software

– much more flexible facilities

Java Applet

Digimap Carto

• customisable high qualitymapping / printing (e.g. EPS)

• used by 40% of users• for skilled users

User Community

OS Data

Simple Browsers

Digimap server

EDINA Digimap• view / print fixed-scale maps • used by all users• meets needs of 60% of users • for novice users / low support costs

• data extraction - for GIS users• meets needs of 25% of users

Issues raised by service• supporting distributed and heterogeneous users

– user self help

– support from institutional staff

• scaleable service• distributed resource

– integration with centralised map libraries

Security and related issues

• terms of use and monitoring– individual registration

– data and map watermarking

– process logging

• intellectual property rights– copyright conditions

– derived products

Where next?

• geographic coverage– Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Republic of Ireland?

• other geographic data– aerial imagery

– "changing landscape" - access to historical data

• functionality– user-sourced data

– data analysis

In summary

• inter disciplinary resource• institutions take time to understand

support requirements• Web technology is changing very rapidly• data supplier's trust develops over time

[ Digimap ]The internet map collection

for UK academia

Dr Hugh BuchananUser Support Co-ordinator

Data Library, University of Edinburgh