http://civicaccess.416.s1.nabble.com/Re-CivicAccess-discuss-Digest-Vol-7-Issue-40-tp643p657.html
I recalled something of this kind being done some years ago in St. Louis
Missouri Public Library. A quick Google search produced this:
Kofron, Charles P. and Anne Watts. "St. Louis Library's GIS Disseminates Public
Abstract: This article describes how the St. Louis Public Library and Regional
containing selected data elements from the 1990 US census. The Electronic Atlas
that the service still exists. If not, would be interesting to know
> Funny you should mention that. I have thought for a few years now to try
> and formulate a proposal to some public librarians here in Toronto to
> see if they think a demo of GIS to the general public would fly and then
> perhaps extend it to actually doing some outreach to the public on GIS
> questions.
>
> As I mentioned in a previous post, the issue could be much easier to
> deal with if open source software were on par with commercial software
> in the GIS realm, but it just isn't at that level yet. there are tons of
> packages, but none that do exactly what you want, other than the web
> mapping packages. But, there I go again. I have hope that something can
> still be done.
>
> I am currently writing a book while on sabbatical, a kind of How-to for
> GIS Services in Libraries and one of the concepts, or ideas I want to
> put forward with the book is that GIS should be brought into the public
> realm through libraries. I really believe in the concept, it's just a
> matter of getting some public libraries interested. There are no public
> libraries in canada, that I know of at least, that currently offer any
> gis services and I know of only one in the United States, where as you
> may know, they have free data! :-)
>
> Marcel
>
> Tracey P. Lauriault wrote:
> > Fantastic Marcel!
> >
> > One of my optimistic/utopic dreams - data access dreams that is - is to
> > extend the dli (Data Liberation Initiative) and other academic data
> > access infrastructures to public libraries, school boards, and community
> > groups. I know that this would require additional hardware, software,
> > and peopleware resources in cash strapped institutions but alas, i
> > wonder what role the librarians (map, data and reg) + archivists can
> > play within their associations to push for the extension of some of the
> > excellent knowledge agreements already in place?
> >
> > What do you & others think? am I delusional on a sunny Friday afternoon
> > after hours of looking into the metadata policies of science data
> > portals? I feel a little light headed but alas is this an
> > angle/strategy/solution to explore?
> >
> > cheers
> > T
> > ps-when i started uni but a few years ago, there was only US data to
> > work with. And i look forward to those links.
> >
> > Marcel Fortin wrote:
> >
> >>Thanks Tracey,
> >>You're right, we definetly do have a long way to go in the public realm,
> >>but, on the academic side, we have also come a long long way. When I
> >>started at the U of T in 1999, we had access to maybe 2 or 3 Canadian
> >>geospatial datasets taking up roughly about 1 gig of space mostly taken
> >>up by one orthophoto set). In 2006, I have access to probably over 100
> >>Canadian geospatial datasets taking up over a terabyte of space, without
> >>counting the free Canadian data on the web. Again, most of this is of
> >>course through academic licensing, but I think things will progress for
> >>the general public as well. That's my hope at least. Maybe I'm too
> >>optimistic? I imagine everyone else on this listserv has hope
> >>considering the existance of the civicaccess group and listserv.
> >>
> >>I will try and add links and other docs as you request in your message.
> >>
> >>Marcel
> >>
> >>
> >>Tracey P. Lauriault wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>Marcel;
> >>>I partially agree with you, we do have much to celebrate, however, after
> >>>having spent thousands of dollars on data to do some quality of life
> >>>indicator work at the scale of the city, and trying to do some
> >>>demographic analysis of my neigbhourhood and some school catchment
> >>>areas, i feel we have a long way to go for the average citizen - not the
> >>>specialist - getting easy and free/no cost access to some useful data.
> >>>
> >>>Having said that, Marcel, would you be so kind as to look at our
> >>>resources page and see if there are additional resources we can add
> >>>there? You could just post them to the list if you like or put em up on
> >>>the wiki. That would be really great!
>
http://civicaccess.ca/wiki/Resources> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>So, a failure? I don't think so. I think we have to build on some of
> these
> >>>>successes and not try and compare ourselves to the U.S. too much.
> >>>>The federal government is not oblivious to the fact that data are mostly
> >>>>free in the US. In many cases federal and provincial hands are tied
> because
> >>>>of Crown Copyright and licensing policy, or they think their hands are
> tied
> >>>>See Werschler's "Dissemination of Government Geographic Data in Canada :
> >>>>Guide to Best Practices" at
>
>>>>
http://cgdi-dev.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/Best_practices_guide/Guide_to_> >>>>Best_Practices_v12_finale_e.pdf
> >>>>Our data cultures are different and we can't change that overnight.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>i added this ref doc to the wiki here -
> >>>
http://civicaccess.ca/wiki/Politiques> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>The Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives (ACMLA) along with
> >>>>the Canadian Association of Public Data Users (CAPDU) have worked hard at
> >>>>negotiating data deals over the years.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>I've added the orgs here -
> >>>
http://civicaccess.ca/wiki/Organizations/Organismes> >>>if you have some good refs, fire em over and I will get em listed!
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>What we in the ACMLA have done is
> >>>>demonstrate the need for their data, how they can be used (something they
> >>>>don't always know), and how we intend to use them. The most effective
> >>>>argument we often have, however, is the ability to demonstrate to them a
> >>>>similar deal with another organization (this also works with industry).
> The
> >>>>strategy is often used at the provincial and local level. I realize again
> >>>>that these are academic deals but it does demonstrate the power of
> >>>>negotiation and communication and the usefulness of building on past
> >>>>successes.
> >>>>
> >>>>Marcel
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>_______________________________________________
> >>>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> >>>>
[hidden email]
> >>>>
http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>_______________________________________________
> >>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> >>>
[hidden email]
> >>>
http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> >
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> >
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> --
> ------------------------------
> Note: I am currently on research leave.
> I am monitoring my email, but it may take longer than usual for me to reply.
> If you require help with maps or Geographic Information Systems, please
> contact
[hidden email]
> ------------------------------
> Marcel Fortin
> GIS and Map Librarian, University of Toronto
> 130 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1A5 416 946 0522
>
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