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An introduction to GIS for NOF projects

Paul Miller

Interoperability FocusUKOLN

P.Miller@ukoln.ac.uk http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

UKOLN is funded by Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Further and Higher Education Funding Councils, as well as by project funding from JISC and the EU. UKOLN also receives support from the Universities of Bath and Hull where staff are based.

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What is GIS?“A system for capturing,

storing, checking, integrating, manipulating, analysing and displaying data which are spatially referenced to the Earth.”

(AGI, 1995)

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See citymap.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/See citymap.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/

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What is GIS?

Geographic Information System

• Geographic• Over 80% of public sector data is said to have a

geospatial component– An address, a postcode, a grid reference, even a

county…

• Information• Much of the data stored in databases can be

linked using this geospatial component– Salary, buying preferences, artistic style,

historical period, photographer…

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What is GIS?

Geographic Information System

• System• Not simply the output (often a map)

– Includes the processes, procedures, rules, etc. to create, combine, validate, and analyse data… .

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Do I need GIS?

• It depends…• Do you have much data that would make

sense linked to a map?– And do any licensing restrictions apply?

• Do you have access to the requisite skills and equipment?

– The software is getting much easier, but it’s still a complex area

• Does it fit with your project?– Some projects really don’t need this… .

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Ways to use GIS (roughly)

• Behind the scenes, simply helping you• Behind the scenes, producing map images• Behind the scenes, producing map images to

drive an image map• On the website, selecting data in response to

user queries• On the website, producing maps in response to

user queries• On the website, producing maps in response to

user queries, and allowing the user to interact with the result.

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• Simply helping you…• Plotting locations of buildings photographed

for management reasons?• Ensuring equitable distribution of funds by

geography?• Tracking users against known areas of

Social Exclusion?• Highlighting significant areas for more work?

• The user may never know• ‘Boring’• Useful.

Ways to use GIS

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• Producing map images…• Combining different sources of data in

order to produce maps, graphs, etc, which illustrate points on your web site.

• These maps are ‘static’; just as if they were printed in a book.

Ways to use GIS

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See www.esri.com/mapmuseum/See www.esri.com/mapmuseum/

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• Driving an image map…• Combining different sources of data in

order to produce maps for your web site.

• These maps are used as the basis of ‘image maps’

– Images on the web site that users click on in order to select an area of interest

– Much simpler than building a GIS on the Web, if this is the only functionality you want to provide.

Ways to use GIS

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See ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/See ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/

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• Selecting data in response to user queries…• You may want to allow searches of

your database using addresses, locations, etc., but return information without showing the user a map.

Ways to use GIS

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See www.filmunlimited.co.uk/See www.filmunlimited.co.uk/

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• Producing maps in response to user queries• Perhaps the best–known of the web–

based GIS applications, and now widely available.

• Services often offered by companies who are prepared to integrate their products with your web site, so that you don’t need all of the expertise in–house.

Ways to use GIS

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See uk.multimap.com/See uk.multimap.com/

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See uk.multimap.com/See uk.multimap.com/

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See uk.multimap.com/See uk.multimap.com/

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See uk.multimap.com/See uk.multimap.com/

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• Producing maps with which the user can interact• A ‘real’ Web GIS, likely to require the

greatest infrastructure, the most powerful hardware and software, and the most expensive licensing costs for copyrighted data.

Ways to use GIS

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See www.nationalatlas.gov/See www.nationalatlas.gov/

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See www.nationalatlas.gov/See www.nationalatlas.gov/

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See www.nationalatlas.gov/See www.nationalatlas.gov/

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See www.nationalatlas.gov/See www.nationalatlas.gov/

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Issues to consider: Software

• Do you already have access?• If you’re a Local Authority, try your Planning

Department– But have a good idea what you want to do

• If you’re in Higher Education, try the Geography Department or your Computing Service

– Some GIS software is covered by a ‘CHEST deal’

• Do you have access to the skills?• Maybe visit GIS 2001, or a similar

event?• 18–20 September, Earl’s Court.

See www.iebusiness-forums.com/gis/See www.iebusiness-forums.com/gis/

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• Look for standards compliance• NOF Technical Guidelines

–www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk/nof/technicalstandards.html

• Open GIS Consortium–www.opengis.org/techno/specs.htm.

Issues to consider: Software

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• Do you have the data already?• And if so, does your license allow you to use

it as you want to in this project?

• If you don’t have the data, how are you going to get it?• Buy from Ordnance Survey, Bartholomew,

Cities Revealed, etc?– But remember to negotiate a license that lets you

do what you want to

• Digitise from paper originals?– But remember to clear the rights for material that is

still in copyright.

Issues to consider: Data

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• Are you combining data sources?• Scale

– Add the roads from a 1:250,000 UK road atlas to buildings from a 1:1,250 urban map, and the results will be very poor

• Data granularity– If you’ve gathered data on postal area (YO, G, etc.), there’s no

point plotting it on a map of postal districts (YO4, G67, etc.)

• Spurious accuracy– “x lies within 100m of y”– But x and y are drawn from data sources that are only precise

to within 50m– So x and y might be adjacent, or they might be 200m apart.

Issues to consider: Data

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Remember…

Just because you have access to “a GIS” or a map of your area…• not all software or data can do

everything you want to it do• and even if it can, your license might

not let you.

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Sources of guidance…

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See http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/goodguides/gis/See http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/goodguides/gis/

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See www.ordsvy.gov.uk/gis-files/See www.ordsvy.gov.uk/gis-files/

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Some pointers…

• ADS GIS Guide to Good Practice• ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/goodguides/gis/

• Association for Geographic Information (AGI)• www.agi.org.uk/

• National Geospatial Data Framework (NGDF)• www.ngdf.org.uk/

• Open GIS Consortium (OGC)• www.opengis.org/

• Ordnance Survey (OS)• www.ordsvy.gov.uk/

• Web–Mapper• www.web-mapper.com/