One store has all? - the backend story of managing geospatial information toward an easy discovery

Abstract

Geospatial data includes many formats, varying from historical paper maps, to digital information collected by various sensors. Many libraries have started the efforts to build a geospatial data portal to connect users with the various information. For example, GeoBlacklight and OpenGeoportal are two open-source projects that initiated from academic institutions which have been adopted by many universities and libraries for geospatial data discovery. While several recent studies have focused on the metadata, usability and data collection perspectives of geospatial data portals, not many have explored the backend stories about data management to support the data discovery platform. The objective of this paper is to provide a summary about geospatial data management strategies involved in the geospatial data portal development by reviewing case studies. These data management strategies include managing the historical paper maps, scanned maps, aerial photos, research generated geospatial information, and web map services. This paper focuses on the data organization, storage, cyberinfrustracture configuration, preservation and sharing perspectives of these efforts with the goal to provide a range of options or best management practices for information managers when curating geospatial data in their own institutions.