Geographical data in light of information access and preservation

• Main Authors: Thorvaldur Bragason, Guðrún Gísladóttir, Sigrún Klara Hannesdóttir
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.557.6007; http://www.theochem.org/raunvisindathing06/abstracts/thb-en.pdf

Geographic data have the common thread of showing or providing information about demarcated areas or places on the earth’s surface that may be defined with geographic location or positional reference points. This data may be divided into three main categories: remotely sensed data (aerial photographs and satellite images), cartographic data (digital geographic information and maps) and other statistical geographical data (censuses and surveys). Maps and aerial photographs have traditionally been in the form of paper and films, but digital technology has opened the way for satellite data, geographic information systems and global positioning systems. New media like the World Wide Web has been used in Iceland for visually presenting geographic information, particularly in various web portals, but without a uniform and comprehensive policy. This category of geographical information needs a general overview, while the preservation and security of such data lacks a coordinated policy and overview. New technology brings new problems, including the preservation of digital data. Paper and films that are stored under optimum conditions have a rather long lifetime, while the life of digital data is relatively short. Data are scattered, and they are often only viewed according to their form, for example publications, computer data, manuscripts or documents, and less in accordance with content.