Abstract
The emergence, in recent years, of digital libraries and of Internet-based communication applications have led some researchers to propose that the emerging data infrastructure of the Internet and the capabilities of digital libraries can be used to organize and ease data-mining digital geospatial data across the Internet. Digital geospatial data interoperability, the target of major efforts by standardization bodies and the research community since the 1990s, “has been seen as a solution for sharing and integrating geospatial data, more specifically to solve the syntactic, schematic, and semantic as well as the spatial and temporal heterogeneities between various real world phenomena” (Brodeur, Bédard, Edwards, & Moulin, 2003, p. 243). Some researchers point to the problem that many GIS systems are singular in nature, are generally isolated, and lack interoperability, due in part to the computer architecture upon which they are based (Lutz, Riedemann, & Probst, 2003). This chapter will discuss the emergence of a national spatial digital infrastructure vis à vis the development of a national telecommunications infrastructure. Federal policies, standards, and procedures will be reviewed that assist in the management and production of geospatial data. Several examples of current geospatial libraries will be examined. The chapter will conclude with a short implications section on what are necessary next steps and future trends.