Unit 190 - Public Access to Geographic Information

Table of Contents

Advanced organizer

Learning outcomes

1. Public access to government-held information

1.1 Government and information
1.2 The public's right to know
1.3 The individual's right to privacy
1.4 Government policies toward public access to information
1.5 Issues in public access to information
1.6 The special case of public access to geographic information

2.1 The concept of National Geospatial Data Infrastructure
2.2 The architecture and objective of Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
2.2.1 What is Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
2.2.2 Who take part in Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
2.2.3 How Geospatial Data Clearinghouse works
2.2.4 Example: the USGS Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
2.3 Digital spatial libraries
2.4 Freenets and geographic information kiosks

3.1 Technical problems and possible solutions
3.2 The issues of data ownership, copyright and intellectual property
3.3 The issues of legal liability
3.4 Socio-economic impacts of public access to geographic information 

5. Review and study questions

6. References