EDINA newsline
September 2007: Volume 12 Issue 3
There is a lot of spatial data out there ...
Satellite imagery © DigitalGlobe
Noise levels in central London © Crown Copyright
Sample of OS MasterMap © Crown Copyright
Visualisation of health-related data. Map produced by the West Midlands Public Health Observatory
Over the coming months, Go-Geo! users will discover that there is more to the portal than the new design enhancements and improved functionality, which were out-lined in the previous issue of Newsline (12.2).
The geographic information community in UK academia have published a significant number of geospatial metadata records on Go-Geo!, made possible through a JISC-funded Phase 5 metadata initiative scheme between EDINA and several institutions including
These institutions are using the Go-Geo! Metadata Editor tool and UK Academic Geospatial Metadata Application Profile (AGMAP) guidelines to generate compliant, quality controlled metadata records for publication on Go-Geo!
UK AGMAP was created for the UK academic community to document spatial datasets. This ensures that Go-Geo! portal users can search, harvest and access hundreds of metadata records from other online catalogue sources.
These harvested metadata records augment those currently found on the Go-Geo! portal, as well as metadata records which participating institutions will submit over the next few months as part of the metadata initiative scheme.
Over the past month, Sheffield and Edinburgh universities have already contributed 73 records to Go-Geo!; it is anticipated that the metadata initiative scheme will deliver another 200 to 300 records.
If you want to start using the Go-Geo! Metadata Editor tool to create geospatial metadata for managing your spatial data, or for publication on the Go-Geo! portal, please contact your Athens representative to request access to this resource.
Athens authentication allows users of the metadata editor tool to create, edit and store metadata records in private and secure directories. Metadata records can also be exported to desktop computers or submitted to Go-Geo! for review and publication on the Go-Geo! portal.
EDINA also offers a scheme that allows a UK academic institution to have its own catalogue node for the publication of institutional metadata records.
Athens authentication makes it possible for users affiliated with the institution to use the Go-Geo! portal to search and access institutional metadata records via the institution's node which is made available on the Go-Geo! portal's Advanced Search page.
The node would be visible only to users affiliated with the institution and logged in through Athens authentication.
There will also be eight metadata workshops organised over the next six months and there are still dates available for anyone interested in hosting one.
These events will be advertised on the EDINA and Go-Geo! websites.
Please contact the Go-Geo! metadata support team for questions about these activities or for assistance with metadata creation.