FAQs about Digimap

Who operates Digimap?

Digimap – Ordnance Survey Collection was enabled by agreements between Ordnance Survey and HEFC (the Higher Education Funding Councils) and latterly JISC Collections. The service is run for JISC by EDINA, a JISC-funded national data centre based at Edinburgh University Data Library, and was launched on the 10th of January 2000. All licence agreements are made between Higher and Further Education Institutions and JISC Collections.

Who can use Digimap?

Digimap is available to all individuals who are current students, faculty members or employees of subscribing Higher or Further Education Institutions in the UK. The service can also be used by people who are involved in teaching, education or research at a subscribing Institution for the time they are within the Library Premises. All users are required to register before they can access the service. A definition of Authorised Users is given in the Sub-licence Agreement: Ordnance Survey Data Sub-Licence Agreement

The JISC / Ordnance Survey agreement restricts participation in EDINA Digimap to UK Higher and Further Education Institutions and Research Councils only. Schools do not have access to Digimap, but still have access to Ordnance Survey data through separate Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between Ordnance Survey and Local Authorities which license Ordnance Survey data to Local Authority funded schools. Independent schools may also have other arrangements through which maps data can be obtained. Please contact Ordnance Survey directly for more information about data licensing for Schools. Although Eduserv Chest Associated Sites are not able to participate in the Digimap agreement, Ordnance Survey are willing to discuss licensing terms with them directly.

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What does Digimap enable me to do?

EDINA Digimap provides Ordnance Survey digital map data and high quality cartographic products direct to the desktop. There are a range of fixed scale maps available through an easy-to-use interface. These can be printed as an A4-sized GIF or EPS (Encapsulated PostScript). Also within the service is Data Download, Boundary Download and MasterMap Download, tools to download different digital map data products for use in desktop application software, such as GIS and CAD. More information about digital mapping can be found here: Understanding Digital Map Data.

Carto, a Java based facility, is available to enable more advanced mapping. Users are able to choose the scale of their map, select particular features to display, combine different map products and produce larger maps. Tools are also provided for measuring distances, areas and bearings. Facilities are also available for querying and downloading postcode and gazetteer data. These data provide many research opportunities and are particularly useful for linking to other datasets.

Which Ordnance Survey data products and formats are included in Digimap?

A full list of the products available and the formats in which they are delivered can be found on the Products Available page.

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How do I get access to Digimap?

There are a number of boxes to tick before you can gain access to Digimap:

  1. Firstly, your institution must hold a subscription to Digimap. Only UK Higher and Further Education Institutions are eligible to subscribe. Please read the Subscription pages for more information on how to subscribe.
  2. You need to register yourself as an individual user. You must be a registered member of the institution to do this. You will also need your local login details.
  3. You need access to the Internet and certain software. Please read What Software is needed for Digimap for further information.

How do I persuade my institution to subscribe?

The appropriate individual to contact will vary between institutions. We suggest you try contacting your Map Librarian, Head of Information Services or Reference Librarian. The procedure for subscribing is described on the relevant part of the EDINA web site.

How do I register as an individual?

In order to register with Digimap you will need your local login details you usually use to access electronic resources within your institution. Attempting to log in to Digimap with these authentication credentials will automatically take you to the online registration form. You need to complete this with all the details requested. This online application will be checked and approved by EDINA in order to grant you access Digimap. If you have trouble registering online, we suggest you contact your Digimap Site Representative in the first instance, or consult the Digimap User Registration section of the EDINA web site. Please note that online registration may take up to two working days at busy periods.

Who do I contact in my institution for information about the Digimap service?

If your site already holds a subscription to Digimap, please contact your Digimap Site Representative, whose details are listed on the EDINA web site. Otherwise, see the answer to the earlier question, “How do I persuade my institution to subscribe?”.

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How much will it cost my institution?

Subscription costs vary depending on the size of an institution. Details of the subscription costs can be found on the Digimap Subscription page.

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Does EDINA provide training?

EDINA provides training courses for site representatives and local support staff. It is anticipated that these individuals run training courses locally for others using Digimap. All EDINA’s training materials are provided free of charge for this purpose. There is also extensive online documentation such as tutorials, information about Ordnance Survey data products, how to import the data into commonly used Geographical Information Systems software, uses to which the data can be put, case studies of data use, and so on.

Is there a demonstration of the Digimap service which I can view or show to colleagues?

Short term trials for Digimap may be available for a limited number of staff within an institution. Please contact EDINA for further details. There are also slide show presentations of the Digimap facilities on the Service Demonstration page.

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What may the Ordnance Survey data and maps in Digimap be used for?

The permitted use of the data and maps from Digimap are described in the Terms of Use for the service, and in the Frequently Asked Questions on the Sub-Licence Agreement. Each user must read the Terms of Use for Digimap when they register. These and the Frequently Asked Questions on the Sub-Licence Agreement can be viewed from any point within the service.

Broadly speaking, the maps and data may be used for educational purposes, including teaching, academic research, dissertations, theses, sponsored research, private study and for limited internal business use (location maps for events, for example). The following are examples of what the maps and data may NOT be used for. This list is not exhaustive:

  • Any work of a commercial nature, particularly that involving external (non-subscribing) organisations
  • Submitting as part of planning applications, either personal or as part of commercial activity or student placement work
  • Commissioned research undertaken for the sole and exclusive benefit of the research sponsor
  • Work undertaken by students on placements which is part of their employers work

Institutions or individuals need to make separate licensing arrangements with Ordnance Survey for activities not covered by this Agreement.

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What software do I need to use Digimap?

For most of Digimap you can use any recent web browser (e.g. IE6 or later, Firefox 1.0 or later). For Carto you will need a browser that supports Java 1.4. If you wish to use Carto on a Mac you will need to use Mac OS X.

For downloaded data there is a list of companies who supply conversion software within the service. URLs from which free converters can be downloaded are also provided.

Converted data or some of the formats provided directly can be used in a GIS software package. Your institution may already support and hold licences for GIS software. You should investigate this first. There are also Eduserv Chest software deals which can provide you with some GIS packages more cheaply than if you approach the software vendor directly. EDINA provides support in the use of Ordnance Survey data for key GIS software in use by the HE community, but cannot recommend any particular software packages.

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I’ve been asked to provide my institution’s “Digimap Licence Number”. Where do I find this?

There is no such thing as a "Digimap Licence Number". If you need a specific licence number, please contact Ordnance Survey directly and explain why you need a licence number.

I have forgotten my login details what should I do?

Access to the Digimap service is via your personal institutional username and password, you do not have a specific Digimap username and password. EDINA does not know your personal account details so you should liaise with your local computing/library support if you have forgotten your personal login information.

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Does the Digimap OS Collection provide data from outside the UK?

The Digimap OS service delivers maps and map data of Great Britain only. You will however find an International Gateway link from the Go-Geo service page.

Eurogeographics have small scale data for Europe but they charge for it.

There is also a lot of free small scale data for various places around the world on the USGS website.

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Contact us at: edina@ed.ac.uk
EDINA, Causewayside House
160 Causewayside, Edinburgh
United Kingdom EH9 1PR

EDINA is the Jisc-designated national data centre at the University of Edinburgh.

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