Sustainability of Digital Formats: Planning for Library of Congress Collections |
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Introduction | Sustainability Factors | Content Categories | Format Descriptions | Contact |
Content Categories >> Still Image | Sound | Textual | Moving Image | Web Archive | Datasets | Email and PIM | Design and 3D | Geospatial | Aggregate | Generic
Geospatial Content >> Quality and Functionality FactorsTable of Contents
• Scope • Normal GIS functionality • Support for GIS metadata • Support for grid-based analysis • References Scope An introduction to geospatial resources and to aspects of geospatial analysis and data documentation that geospatial formats must support is provided in a separate essay, Introduction to Geospatial Resources and Formats. This document will link to relevant sections of the Introduction to supply additional information and context. Given that geospatial formats often have characteristics of images and datasets, factors that relate to quality and functionality of those more general content types are often relevant. Those factors, listed in the sidebar, are discussed elsewhere on this web site, in: Format descriptions for geospatial formats will employ relevant factors from among those used to assess still image formats and dataset formats in general. For example, Support for Multispectral Bands is a functionality factor for still images that is particularly significant for geospatial images such as satellite imagery. Datasets: Normal Functionality covers support for varied data types and data structures. Support for Specialized Software Interfaces is relevant to geospatial formats, for example, in relation to support for interface services approved by the Open Geospatial Consortium [1]. The factors discussed below are specific to the geospatial nature of the resources and the desired functionality for geospatial use and analysis. Normal GIS Functionality Normal functionality within a geographical information system (GIS) involves support for the basic spatial analysis functions described at GIS Functionality: Basic Spatial Analysis. Some geospatial formats support more specialized spatial analyses. One example of more advanced functionality is the use of statistical techniques such as spatial interpolation and spatial prediction to provide additional data points when data is sparse or missing. See GIS Functionality: Spatial Interpolation and Estimation. Support for GIS metadata The geospatial community has developed some community models and standards for metadata. These include ISO 19115 and standards from the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC):
Note: The compilers of this resource acknowledge that there is an overlap conceptually between this factor and the more generic Support for Data Documentation factor for dataset format. However, the particular importance of rich documentation for geospatial data resources appeared to warrant a factor that would appear in the geospatial section of format description documents. Support for grid-based analysis 1. Open Geospatial Consortium. http://www.opengeospatial.org/ 2. ISO 19115:2003. Geographic information - Metadata. http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=26020 3. ISO 19115-2:2009 Geographic information -- Metadata -- Part 2: Extensions for imagery and gridded data. http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=39229 4. FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM), Published June 1994. Revised 1998. http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/geospatial-metadata-standards#csdgm 5. FGDC/INCITS North American Profile of ISO 19115:2003, Geographic information - Metadata. ANSI/INCITS 453-2009. Intended to supersede CSDGM. http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/geospatial-metadata-standards#nap 6. Draft North American Profile of ISO 19115:2003 - Geographic information - Metadata. Version 1.1, 2007-07-26. http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/incits-l1-standards-projects/NAP-Metadata. This draft, unlike the ISO and ANSI standards, which must be purchased, is publicly available. This document, the companion Introduction to Geospatial Resources and Formats, and many of this Web site's geospatial format description pages were developed during 2010 and 2011 by Nancy Hoebelheinrich (Knowledge Motifs LLC) and Natalie Munn (Content Innovations LLC), based on work carried out by the National Geospatial Digital Archive and in cooperation with the Library of Congress format sustainability team and other specialists. Back to top |
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