[Geodata] Geodata Research

Mon Jan 24 15:28:07 EST 2011

David,

You wrote: "As part of my M.A. in Computer Science I am going to be
doing GIS research, and
my interests look like they align well with the goals of the Public
Geospatial
Data Project. I am planning on doing three semesters of research
(starting now)
leading up to a thesis."

I take it your interests are along the software development lines, since
your major is in computer science. Can you give us any more details on
the topic of your thesis? Are you researching a solutions to a technical
challenge? Or is your thesis focused on policy issues? What do you hope
the end result of your research project will be? Is it going to be a
software package, a set of best-practices, or something else? I'm just
trying to understand the relationship between your research and open
geospatial data.

You wrote: "So I am seeking both ways to get involved and some guidance
if anyone will offer it."

I don't have time for yet another unfulfilled commitment to a volunteer
project, but I can make myself available for "guidance" delivered via
phone calls and e-mails. You might also subscribe to the OSGeo discuss
list if you haven't already.

You wrote: "I want to see OSGeo get their geodata repository off the
ground and would be
happy to work on researching data standards, building the browsing
interface,
building the back-end, and researching discovery methods (one thing at a
time)."

David Bitner gave you a good response to this. The first question to ask
is "Why does the OSGeo need a GIS data repository, and how will it be
different from existing repositories?". I'm not saying there isn't a
need in this area, but you should understand what type of problem you
are trying to solve. As a land surveyor, I'm certainly interested in
encouraging and national land parcel dataset, which comes with all sorts
of challenges. Some of these are typical of all geospatial data
catalogs, and some are specific to the parcel dataset. Another
interesting concept is a SourceForge like system for geospatial data,
with specific data creation projects.

Have you checked out the Natural Earth GIS data set?

http://www.naturalearthdata.com/ <http://www.naturalearthdata.com/> 

You wrote: "I am not an experienced programmer, but have some
familiarity with a number of
languages including C, C++, Python, Haskell and Bash. I also have some
experience with CSS/HTML."

Python, CSS, and HTML coding skills seem like a good fit for your area
of interest.

I look forward to learning more about your research if you can share
some details with us.

Landon

From: geodata-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:geodata-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of David William
Bitner
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 8:27 AM
To: David Campbell
Cc: geodata
Subject: Re: [Geodata] Geodata Research

David,

Welcome. Getting a public geospatial data repository "off the ground"
unfortunately is only a small part of the problem.  These types of
efforts take a lot of ongoing active support that goes well beyond the
initial build out as they become stale and irrelevant very very quickly.
There have been a number of false starts to get these things going by
individuals throughout the years.

We most likely have significant physical resources that we can leverage
and that I would certainly be happy to help get you access to.  My
experience says that without either getting a critical mass of
volunteers involved (which is certainly more than one) or individuals or
groups who have a specific business need that is met that it would be
very difficult to be successful. If you are keen on getting some motion
in this arena, managing human capital (both developers as well as data
providers) is going to be more significant of a challenge than anything
technical. The first question that you will need to be able to answer
very clearly is "what value is this repository adding".

Please use this forum as you have any questions or to try to find
like-minded individuals to work with you.

David

On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 4:10 PM, David Campbell <dcampbell24 at gmail.com>
wrote:

Greetings everyone,

As part of my M.A. in Computer Science I am going to be doing GIS
research, and
my interests look like they align well with the goals of the Public
Geospatial
Data Project. I am planning on doing three semesters of research
(starting now)
leading up to a thesis. Unfortunately, although our Earth Science
department
uses GIS, there is no one with a strong technical GIS background. So I
am
seeking both ways to get involved and some guidance if anyone will offer
it. I
want to see OSGeo get their geodata repository off the ground and would
be
happy to work on researching data standards, building the browsing
interface,
building the back-end, and researching discovery methods (one thing at a
time).

My current experience includes a GIS certificate program in which, using
ESRI
products, I created a variety of maps, made some simple geodatabases,
did
spatial and network analysis, and made a customized interactive city
map. I am
not an experienced programmer, but have some familiarity with a number
of
languages including C, C++, Python, Haskell and Bash. I also have some
experience with CSS/HTML.

I look forward to working with the Public Geospatial Data Committee.
--
David Campbell
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-- 
************************************
David William Bitner

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