Geodata Repository

= Why should OSGeo be running a geodata repository? =


 * Without data, Open Source Geospatial Software isn't much use.


 * OSGeo has been generously offered use of the facilities at Telascience - http://osgeo.telascience.org/ - which is already mirroring a lot of public domain sources


 * The telascience facilities can be used to host sample applications for the software projects, to demonstrate different interfaces; this is a showcase for the OSGeo software projects and open standards that they support.
 * The Geodata Discovery Working Group needs a good selection of data sources to motivate discussion of indexing and search; the Geodata Packaging Working Group needs high-quality data and metadata to produce educational packages from.


 * This is a service OSGeo can usefully offer to anyone who wants a safe home for their data in the future.

= Data sources =

These are suggestions that have been offered to the group so far.

Well-known sources of publically collected and maintained geodata
See list maintained at Geodata Discovery Working Group

Lesser known or less widely distributed sources of publically collected geodata

 * Local government departments which are putting geodata into the public domain (MassGIS, Manitoba, MetroGIS)

Privately contributed / collectively constructed geodata

 * OpenStreetmap makes data available through a HTTP based XML interface. They've also been getting requests for shapefile and GML output of their data.

= No data without metadata! =

An important factor for telascience is to have better metadata management facilities, and this is something that OSGeo's collective intelligence can really help with. During their data support efforts for Katrina hurricane relief data was being collected in "a very ad-hoc fashion". To be sure that OSGeo has the rights to redistribute data that it collects, a base level of metadata indicating contact details and license terms has to be established.


 * Geodata Metadata Requirements - a baseline for what would be asked for / expected of data sets in an OSGeo repository

Common metadata standards
US Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata stipulations are the baseline. One ideal is that what we should collect, should be at least FGDC compliant.


 * FGDC metadata overview.
 * GEON metadata taxonomy

Potentially useful toolsets

 * http://www.dlese.org/libdev/dcs_overview.html
 * Any open and free implementations providing a WCS interface?

Data+metadata transmission standards, formal and informal

 * OGC Web Catalog Services
 * Web API for geodiscover.cgdi.ca - metadata search API

Related efforts

 * MapDex offers a metadata search facility
 * GeoNames is a gazetteer and naming collection
 * http://www.fao.org/geonetwork/srv/en/main.search
 * http://geoportail-geoportal.ainc-inac.gc.ca/metaindex_e.asp

Initiated after the second Public Geodata Committee meeting.