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There used to be a division in computing: There were consumer applications, like spreadsheets and word processors, that any developer could understand and work with. Then there were specialized applications, like CAD, real-time systems, and high-end graphics processing. These were unknowable by anyone except specialists with training. However, with rapid increases in computing speed, data storage, and network bandwidth, these complex applications are now approachable by the interested computer hacker. Among these, geographic information systems, requiring storage for terabytes of information as well as hefty graphics processing, remain predominantly the domain of government agencies like the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA. Nonetheless, open-source development processes -- the "bazaar" approach -- now provide a way for individuals to explore, use, and share this type of information. There are two keys to allowing this to happen. One is to free data, often taxpayer-funded, for unrestricted use (most American geospatial data falls into this category). The other key is to develop recognized standards for geospatial data interchange and use.

A new book looking at some of the issues in geospatial information systems is Georeferencing: The Geographic Associations of Information, by Linda Hill, geographer and information scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The book focuses primarily on how geographic data might be stored and referenced in information systems. Through her work with the Alexandria Digital Library Hill has a thorough knowledge of how spatial data can be stored and referenced. This background results in a book is that it is written primarily for the digital library community, with a focus on top-down categorization. The book provides detailed descriptions of geographic metadata standards and gazetteer structuring (a "gazetteer" is a lookup table for geographic objects like cities, parks, mountains). The downside is that this detail omits any mention of the large community-driven content movement, including tagging and wikis, that focus more on bottom-up knowledge creation. And while Hill admirably describes the initiatives of the OpenGIS Consortium, she also ignores advances in online mapping such as the Google Maps API, the OpenStreetMap project, and the role of data mining in georeferencing.

While those who aren't information scientists will find the 20+ pages of information on gazetteer schemas of limited interest, the book provides a good overview of some of the key questions in using geospatial data. It provides an adequate background in important geographical concepts such as projections and datums. Ignoring these metadata concerns when using map data can lead to serious errors -- often difficult to track down -- in your maps. However, for those interested in working with geospatial information, this book is not the right place to start.

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