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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Grant No. 50-DGNA-1-900024, Department of Commerce/U.S. Census Bureau Grant No. 43-YA-BC-154376, Department of Interior/U.S. Geological Survey Grant No. 02HQAG0150, Federal Emergency Management Agency Grant No. EMW-2002-SA-0210, and U.S. Government Printing Office Grant No. 733804. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
LICENSING GEOGRAPHIC DATA AND SERVICES COMMITTEE
HARLAN J. ONSRUD, Chair,
University of Maine, Orono
PRUDENCE S. ADLER,
Association of Research Libraries, Washington, D.C.
HUGH N. ARCHER,
Department for Natural Resources, Frankfort Kentucky
STANLEY M. BESEN,
Charles River Associates, Washington, D.C.
JOHN W. FRAZIER,
Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York
KATHLEEN (KASS) GREEN,
Independent Consultant, Berkeley, California
WILLIAM S. HOLLAND,
GeoAnalytics, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin
TERRENCE J. KEATING, Z/I
Imaging, Madison, Alabama
JEFF LABONTÉ,
GeoConnections Programs, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
XAVIER R. LOPEZ,
Oracle Corporation, Nashua, New Hampshire
STEPHEN M. MAURER,
Private Practice/University of California, Berkeley
SUSAN R. POULTER,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
MARK E. REICHARDT,
Open GIS Consortium, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland
TSERING W. SHAWA,
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
National Research Council Staff
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Officer
VERNA J. BOWEN, Financial and Administrative Associate
KAREN L. IMHOF, Senior Project Assistant (until December 2003)
MONICA LIPSCOMB, Research Assistant
MAPPING SCIENCE COMMITTEE
DAVID J. COWEN, Chair,
University of South Carolina, Columbia
KATHRINE CARGO,
Orleans Parish Communications District, New Orleans, Louisiana
KEITH C. CLARKE,
University of California, Santa Barbara
WILLIAM J. CRAIG;
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
ISABEL F. CRUZ,
University of Illinois at Chicago
ROBERT P. DENARO,
Navteq Inc., Chicago, Illinois
SHOREH ELHAMI,
Delaware County Auditor’s Office, Delaware, Ohio
DAVID R. FLETCHER,
Geographic Paradigm Computing, Albuquerque, New Mexico
HON. JAMES GERINGER,
Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., Wheatland, Wyoming
DAVID R. MAIDMENT,
University of Texas at Austin
MARK MONMONIER,
Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York
JOEL MORRISON,
Ohio State University (Retired), Reston, Virginia
SHASHI SHEKHAR,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
NANCY TOSTA,
Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd., Seattle, Washington
National Research Council Staff
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Officer
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Chair,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
JILL BANFIELD,
University of California, Berkeley
STEVEN R. BOHLEN,
Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Washington, D.C.
VICKI COWART,
Consulting Geologist, Denver, Colorado
DAVID L. DILCHER,
University of Florida, Gainesville
ADAM M. DZIEWONSKI,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
WILLIAM L. GRAF,
University of South Carolina, Columbia
RHEA GRAHAM,
New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, Albuquerque
V. RAMA MURTHY,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
DIANNE R. NIELSON,
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Salt Lake City
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
MARK SCHAEFER,
NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia
BILLIE L. TURNER II,
Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
THOMAS J. WILBANKS,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
National Research Council Staff
ANTHONY R. de SOUZA, Director
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Officer
TAMARA L. DICKINSON, Senior Program Officer
DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Officer
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer
KRISTEN L. KRAPF, Program Officer
RONALD F. ABLER, Scholar
TANJA PILZAK, Research Associate
VERNA J. BOWEN, Financial and Administrative Associate
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Financial and Administrative Associate
JAMES DAVIS, Program Assistant
AMANDA ROBERTS, Program Assistant
Acknowledgments
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
John Copple, Sanborn Maps Company, Inc., Colorado Springs, Colorado
Shoreh Elhami, Delaware County Auditor’s Office, Delaware, Ohio
Joanne Gabrynowicz, University of Mississippi, University
Guillermo Herrera, Bowdoin College, Maine. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
John R. Jensen, University of South Carolina, Columbia
Dennis Karjala, Arizona State University, Tempe
Donald T. Lauer, U.S. Geological Survey, retired, Santa Barbara, California
Robert Marx, U.S. Census Bureau, retired, Washington, D.C.
Roy Radner, New York University, New York City
Larry J. Sugerbaker, NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Shelton S. Alexander, Pennsylvania State University, University Park and Pierre C. Hohenberg, New York University, New York. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Preface
Since 1988, the National Research Council’s Mapping Science Committee (MSC) has provided independent advice to government and society on scientific, technical, and policy matters relating to geographic data.1 The need for the present study was first expressed by federal agencies at a 2000 meeting of the MSC, and five agencies agreed to provide sponsorship: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Government Printing Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Census Bureau, and U.S. Geological Survey.
The study committee (Appendix A) held four information-gathering and writing meetings between February and November 2003, including a workshop that brought together approximately 60 people from government, academia, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. Presentations and white papers from the workshop are available at the MSC Web site. Along with requested written and verbal testimony from individuals (Appendix B), the committee analyzed published materials in developing its final report.
Because of the increasingly broad use of geographic information in society, and the growing use of licensing by data providers, the report’s audience extends beyond the study’s sponsors to government agencies at all levels, Congress, the private sector, academia, and the general public. The report is designed to be a resource for these groups. It distills the
legal, economic, and public interest underpinnings of data distribution approaches, lays out viewpoints and experiences of licensing from all sectors of the geographic data community, and proposes strategies that could advance data use and accessibility to the benefit of all stakeholders in geographic data.