# Presentation: 129800

## Global Information Locator Service (GILS)

-  presented* *by Eliot Christian, U.S. Geological Survey

- Global Information Locator Service (GILS)

**Notes:**
Thank you for this opportunity to provide an overview and update on the Global Information Locator Service. 
My presentation today will concentrate on GILS as a strategic technology for information discovery.
You can also find information about GILS from a policy or standards perspective, as well as technology examples, at the GILS Web site (www.gils.net).

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Standards
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Information Discovery
- Metadata
- Semantic Mapping
- Standards and Perspectives
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## Data / Information / Knowledge Management Processes

**Notes:**
I’d like to start with this cartoon showing six processes we might identify when thinking about data management, information management, or knowledge management. 
The arrows trace one of the processing paths—information is Created in some way, Captured into some kind of media, and then Organized as part of a set. At this point, we can be talking about anything from butterflies in a collection, to books cataloged in a library, to HTML pages hyperlinked among themselves and stored on a local file system. 
The cloud represents the mechanisms by which one can Access the organized information, perhaps a public network like the World Wide Web. But, access alone is not sufficient to connect with people who may want the information. There must be also a mechanism for people to Discover the information. Here, the process culminates in someone actually making Use of the information.
One can apply these processes at any level of aggregation. A Web page may be a information object, but an index of many Web pages is also an information object that is created, captured, organized, etc. 
In general, we can trace many loops and chains among these process steps. Certain cycles would be of special interest from a records management perspective, for instance.

## GILS focuses onInformation Discovery

**GILS Goal:**** ****Make it easier for people ****to discover information **

**Notes:**
The goal of GILS is to “Make it easier for people to discover information”. 
Here, the term "information discovery“ refers to the process of finding relevant data and information resources without prior knowledge of where those resources may reside, how they are organized, or how they are usually accessed. 
While the entire process of information management is relevant to GILS, we concentrate on those aspects that are especially useful for discovering information. 

## Why Is Information 	So Hard To Find?

- The "Information Discovery" Problem
- 	We need information but we cannot retrieve it, because we do not know who might have it or how we ask for it.

**Notes:**
In our daily lives, we are constantly taking in and giving out information: a driver asks for directions, a shopper reads a package label, a mother seeks child care advice, an investor evaluates a company. 
Most of the time, our information comes from sources we have used many times before. We know what we are doing; we know what we are getting. 
Sometimes, we need information but we do not have trusted and familiar sources. This is the "information discovery" problem--We need information but we do not know who might have it or how to ask for it. 
To solve this problem, we can envision a comprehensive yet simple way for people to discover information, to know what it is and how to get it.           [3]

## Why Is Information 	So Hard To Find?

- The Internet is not a Library, Yet
- Search services do not yet work with each other, nor with traditional libraries
- Internet lacks standards comparable to what libraries achieved many years ago

**Notes:**
The Internet provides access to an amazing quantity of information. But, the information must be organized so people can find what they need. 
Internet services today do not yet work with each other to organize information. They do not let users search within traditional library catalogs and information services. 
On the Internet overall, we have not agreed on standards comparable to what libraries achieved many years ago.

[4]

## The GILS Vision

***Imagine***
- The whole Internet organized in common ways to help us discover information
- Where anyone can make and publish their own catalogs instantly
- And, search includes not just Web pages but the world's library catalogs, atlases, directories, and databases

**Notes:**
Just imagine the Internet working like a real library--with all catalogs and indexes organized in common ways to help us discover information. 
Imagine that anyone could make their own catalogs instantly, focused on anything we choose and designed for the needs of our own community. 
And, imagine that this "next generation search strategy" includes not just Web pages but the catalogs and indexes of most of the world's libraries, atlases, directories, and databases. 
[5]

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Information Discovery
- Metadata
- Semantic Mapping
- Standards and Perspectives
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## Information Discovery Operates on Metadata (Characteristics)  

**Who ****made it?**

**What is ****its name?**

**What type**** is it?**

**Where is ****it stored?**

**Is it free?**

**Notes:**
The concept of “information” has many dimensions. For the purpose of information discovery, we are interested in how information is characterized. Obviously, the raw content is one characteristic, although we do need to distinguish between “intellectual content” and “representation”. Information may also be associated to various “contexts”, including any number of associations with the real world and with other information objects. 
I will use the term “metadata” to encompass any characteristics that may be associated to information. 
Looking at the six management processes, we can call out many examples of metadata. There is no limit to how many ways we can characterize information--even books in a library can have thousands of descriptive metadata elements. To these we can add all sorts of other characteristics as we consider the broad sweep of all data and information—the color of a wing may be an important characteristic in a butterfly collection, for example.  
This general view is very powerful. It enables us to address information discovery across all manner of information, regardless of how its is acquired, managed, or presented. 

## Unfortunately,Metadata is not  Standardized   

- Different terms for similar characteristics:

**Notes:**
In recent years, some people have tried to reduce the information discovery problem to a simple matter of standardizing all metadata elements. From the computer programming perspective, information discovery would be almost trivial if all data and information carried exactly the same sorts of metadata. 
In reality, the situation is far too complex for such a simplistic approach. Metadata just do not adhere to any one standard. 
Consider just a few simple examples where we have quite different terms for similar characteristics:[show examples in table]
This is not merely a legacy problem that could be overcome given sufficient discipline and a massive migration to the Web and XML.
The huge diversity in the characteristics of data and information reflect the diverse interests and needs of real people in their real pursuits. Which characteristics are we willing to compromise or lose forever? Who would we have design some new “master directory” of all information, or even a “mother-of-all metadata format”? 
It is good to have a general view of data and information in all its diversity, but we still want an information discovery mechanism that is coherent as well as comprehensive. How can we be true to the diversity of the real world, yet provide useful information discovery mechanisms for real people?  

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Information Discovery
- Metadata
- Semantic Mapping
- Standards and Perspectives
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## Semantic Mapping Approach

- Just for searching, associate metadata to standard bibliographic concepts:

**Who made it?**

**What type is it?**

**What is its name?**

**Notes:**
In GILS, the answer to coherent information discovery is pretty simple. We get good interoperability if we select just a few common search concepts that are used most often for information discovery—concepts like “What is its name?” and “Who made it?” These concepts are then mapped to whatever corresponding metadata elements happen to be available in the collection to be searched.
These simple ideas are key to the GILS approach to information discovery:
Just about anything that is searchable can be handled as metadata in GILS; 
There is always a semantic mapping from search concepts to the actual metadata, in whatever form it exists; 
GILS only requires interoperable search on a few common search concepts.
Obviously, the choice of common search concepts greatly affects the interoperability you get. In GILS, the choice was made to focus on  “bibliographic” search concepts.

## Metadata

- Metadata covers many characteristics
- But, just a few are almost always _searchable_
- In concept, these common metadata are equivalent to bibliographic citations

**Notes:**
For bibliographic cataloging and related disciplines, metadata covers many hundreds of different characteristics. In electronic settings, there is a lot of attention focused on the automatic production of metadata for information discovery. Progress is being made, but today it seems that some kinds of human judgment are not yet automated.
Of the bibliographic cataloging metadata, we find just a few characteristics are almost always searchable, e.g., Title, Author, Subject, Date, and Place. 
These few characteristics are traditionally used for citations of books. These are the same characteristics now found in metadata on the World Wide Web.
[13]

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Standards and Perspectives
- Bibliographic Metadata
- Technical Standards
- Perspectives
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## Searching Metadata

- Task: find information where “Title” contains the word “USGS”
- GILS server searches any bibliographic catalogs and locator records where  metadata is mapped to “Title” concept

**Notes:**
A searcher may want information having a certain word in its title, say we need to find information where the “Title” contains the word “USGS”. 
The GILS server then searches any bibliographic catalogs and locator records that have metadata mapped to the concept of title. 
[19]

## Bibliographic Metadata

- 	GILS search service finds records in various formats, distributed across the Internet in various catalogs and databases

**Notes:**
The GILS search service finds records in various formats, distributed across the Internet in various catalogs and databases.
[20]

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Standards and Perspectives
- Bibliographic Metadata
- Technical Standards
- Perspectives
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## The GILS Standard

- Internet client/server (TCP/IP, etc.)
- Uniform Resource Identifiers (e.g., URL's)
- MIME Types
- Date Format (ISO 8601)
- ISO 23950 (Z39.50)
- Init, Search and Present services
- Type-1 queries (generic Boolean)
- Part of Bib-1 Attribute Set
*NOTE:* Z39.50 has many _optional _specs—GILS has only a few, _required_ specifications

**Notes:**
A GILS server must comply with certain requirements. It implements Internet client/server (TCP/IP, etc.), Uniform Resource Identifiers (e.g., URL's), MIME Types, and Date Format (ISO 8601).
A GILS server must also support the Init, Search and Present services specified in ISO 23950 (Z39.50). It supports Type-1 queries (generic Boolean) and part of the Bib-1 Attribute Set (common bibliographic search). 
While Z39.50 has many, optional specifications, GILS has only a few, required specifications.
[21]

## Bib-1 (Bibliographic Search)

- Search Concepts
- 		4	title
- 	1005	originator
- 	2001	distributor
- 	1019	record source
- 	2002	subject terms -- controlled
- 	    29	subject terms -- uncontrolled
- 	1012	date last modified
- 	1035	anywhere (full-text)
- 	    12	local number

**Notes:**

[22]

## GILS and Z39.50 (ISO 23950)

- Provides a registered set of well-known semantics needed for semantic interoperability
- Provides an "abstraction layer" (hide the details) for information system interoperability
- _Only_ standard for direct search of library and information services for the foreseeable future
- Demonstrated gateways to other standard search protocols (SQL, LDAP, DASL, UDDI)
- XML protocol mechanism (XER) in prototype now

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Standards and Perspectives
- Bibliographic Metadata
- Technical Standards
- Perspectives
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## Searcher Perspective

- GILS gives searchers a standard way to find information resources
- Because GILS uses standard bibliographic concepts, anyone who uses a library already understands GILS searches
- GILS locator records can be chained to support referrals into or among collections

**Notes:**
From a Searcher perspective: 
GILS gives searchers a standard way to find information resources
Because GILS uses standard bibliographic concepts, anyone who uses a library already understands GILS searches
GILS locator records can be chained to support referrals into or among collections
[25]

## Information Provider Perspective

- GILS defines an open, low-cost, and scalable standard across all phases of information and knowledge management
- Information providers and intermediaries provide content management tools based on metadata, as well as search services
- In a system architecture, a GILS interface cleanly separates the search function from networking and other components

**Notes:**
From an Information Provider perspective:
GILS defines an open, low-cost, and scalable standard across all phases of information and knowledge management
Information providers and intermediaries provide content management tools based on metadata, as well as search services
In a system architecture, a GILS interface cleanly separates the search function from networking and other components 

[26]

## A Note about User Interfaces

- A GILS search service is defined only at the network level
- The design of user interfaces for searching is outside the scope of GILS
- GILS places _no constraints_ on how a search service may be presented to searchers

**Notes:**
A Note about User Interfaces:
A GILS search service is defined only at the network level
The design of user interfaces for searching is outside the scope of GILS
GILS places no constraints on how a search service may be presented to searchers
[27]

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Standards and Perspectives
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## Library and Information Services Catalogs

**Notes:**
This is the traditional cataloging scenario: a human cataloger creates a locator record in a catalog. Another process is used for the searcher to access the catalog, and these are typically available online. There are a hundreds of vendors with products to assist with these activities and libraries have been able to insist that these support common standards. 
By the way, the catalog record interchange standard is called “MARC”, and the network search interface is called “Z39.50”. These are the same bibliographic standards on which the GILS Profile is built. 

## Metadata in Databases

**Notes:**
Largely in parallel with the library community, many scientific and other organizations have created locator records in a wide range of formats. These are typically stored in a database and accessed with database query software such as Structured Query Language. 

## First-generation Web crawlers

**Notes:**
This cartoon illustrates how a Web crawler (or “spider”) gathers information that has been placed on the Internet in digital form. Until recently, nearly all of the search engines used for this kind of Web page access were based on “full-text search” techniques. They often ignored numbers and almost all structured data, including most of the metadata. We now see search engine products targeted for “intranet” applications that do take advantage of embedded metadata that might exist in HTML documents.

## Second-generation Web Crawlers

**Full-text ****index**

**"Full-text" Indexer**

**Metadata capable search engine **

**Documents,  Data, Files, Records, etc. **

**Locator Records**

**Searcher **

**"Intelligent" Gatherer**

**digitize**

- _Examples:_ Ultraseek, Advanced Search Facility

**Notes:**
Here, we see a separate process occurring along with the crawl. An intelligent gatherer is able to deal with not only the direct content of Web sites, but it can deal with some of the context. For example, the Alexa product provides information about the Web site from the public registration records for the site as well as from a database of performance characteristics and notes form previous visitors. The Google search engine analyzes the external pattern of hyperlinks relevant to the site as another kind of context. 
In my diagram I show this information as locator records, and I believe there is a ripe opportunity for a market in such contextual data to develop on the Web. The Advanced Search Facility provides example code and raw interfaces for creating these records, which can be made very rich with surprisingly little human intervention.   

## Service Description & Discovery

**GILS-compliant search**

**Documents,  Data, Files, Records, etc. **

**Service****Locators**

**Searcher **

**Locator Records**

**Metadata ****databases**

**Intermediary****service**

**GILS-compliant search**

- _Examples:_ NSDI/GSDI Clearinghouse, GELOS, CIESIN

**Full-text ****index**

**Notes:**
Obviously, one soon finds that there are so many sources to search that we need an index of the sources themselves. With GILS, this is easily designed—we simply make a locator record describing each collection. This set of referral records is then just another collection, adn we can use the same tools and architecture to search at this more abstract level. 
When a searcher wants to search further in a GILS-compliant source found in a referral record, the search setup is automatic because the record contains the Z39.50 URL. In other words, searches can be hyperlinked just like Web pages.

## Search Portals using GILS

**Full-text ****index**

**"Full-text" Indexer**

**GILS-compliant search**

**Locator Records**

**Metadata ****databases**

**Human****cataloger**

**Searcher **

**"Intelligent" Gatherer**

**digitize**

- _Examples:_ Web-Clarity, Blue Angel Gateway, FGDC “Wizard”

**Service****Locators**

**Notes:**
This slide simply brings together the separate processes we saw in the previous few slides. We still have traditional catalog records and the old full-text search engine indexes, as well as the more sophisticated indexes of semi-structured data and relational databases.
The availability of a GILS interface to each of these types of information enables a powerful “search portal”. At the USGS, for example, we are buying a commercial product that gives us a single search interface for 
Catalogs, metadata, and bibliographic resources using the Z39.50/ GILS and GEO Profiles 
Web pages and FTP data files pages in HTML and many other formats   
Information managed under office systems such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft Office 
Databases such as MS Access, SQL Server, Oracle, ESRI ARC/Info
Directories such as X.500 databases, PH directories, and Novell network directories 
Full-text indexes of information, accessible via TCP/IP and WAIS protocol

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Standards and Perspectives
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## Search Interoperability

**GILS ****“plug-in”****gateways**

**Searcher **

**            ****Z39.50**
**  ****LDAP (X.500)**
**SQL (ODBC/JDBC)**
**                   ****DASL     **
**UDDI**
**XQuery (future)**

**Notes:**
This slide simply brings together the separate processes we saw in the previous few slides. We still have traditional catalog records and the old full-text search engine indexes, as well as the more sophisticated indexes of semi-structured data and relational databases.
The availability of a GILS interface to each of these types of information enables a powerful “search portal”. At the USGS, for example, we are buying a commercial product that gives us a single search interface for 
Catalogs, metadata, and bibliographic resources using the Z39.50/ GILS and GEO Profiles 
Web pages and FTP data files pages in HTML and many other formats   
Information managed under office systems such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft Office 
Databases such as MS Access, SQL Server, Oracle, ESRI ARC/Info
Directories such as X.500 databases, PH directories, and Novell network directories 
Full-text indexes of information, accessible via TCP/IP and WAIS protocol

## GILS and LDAP(Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

- GILS and LDAP(Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

**GILS ****LDAP gateway**

**Searcher****using ****GILS**

- LDAP directory(organizations,  persons,  resources)

- GILS records(organizations,  persons,  resources)

**Searcher****using ****LDAP**

**Notes:**
Obviously, one soon finds that there are so many sources to search that we need an index of the sources themselves. With GILS, this is easily designed—we simply make a locator record describing each collection. This set of referral records is then just another collection, adn we can use the same tools and architecture to search at this more abstract level. 
When a searcher wants to search further in a GILS-compliant source found in a referral record, the search setup is automatic because the record contains the Z39.50 URL. In other words, searches can be hyperlinked just like Web pages.

## GILS and SQL(Structured Query Language)

- GILS and SQL(Structured Query Language)

**GILS ****SQL****gateway**

**Searcher****using ****GILS**

- Relational databasetables with
-  various data,
-  information

- GILS records with
-  various data,
-  information

**Searcher****using ****SQL**

**Notes:**
Obviously, one soon finds that there are so many sources to search that we need an index of the sources themselves. With GILS, this is easily designed—we simply make a locator record describing each collection. This set of referral records is then just another collection, adn we can use the same tools and architecture to search at this more abstract level. 
When a searcher wants to search further in a GILS-compliant source found in a referral record, the search setup is automatic because the record contains the Z39.50 URL. In other words, searches can be hyperlinked just like Web pages.

## GILS and DASL(Distributed Authoring Search and Locate)

- GILS and DASL(Distributed Authoring Search and Locate)

**GILS ****DASL gateway**

**Searcher****using ****GILS**

- DASL file attributes(name,  owner,   date last   modified ...)

- GILS records (title,  author,  date last modified ...)

**Searcher****using ****DASL**

**Notes:**
Obviously, one soon finds that there are so many sources to search that we need an index of the sources themselves. With GILS, this is easily designed—we simply make a locator record describing each collection. This set of referral records is then just another collection, adn we can use the same tools and architecture to search at this more abstract level. 
When a searcher wants to search further in a GILS-compliant source found in a referral record, the search setup is automatic because the record contains the Z39.50 URL. In other words, searches can be hyperlinked just like Web pages.

## GILS and UDDI(Universal Description Discovery and Integration)

- GILS and UDDI(Universal Description Discovery and Integration)

**GILS ****UDDI gateway**

**Searcher****using ****GILS**

- UDDI register(businesses,  services,  interfaces)

- GILS sources(catalogs,  directories,  inventories)

**Searcher****using ****UDDI**

**Notes:**
Obviously, one soon finds that there are so many sources to search that we need an index of the sources themselves. With GILS, this is easily designed—we simply make a locator record describing each collection. This set of referral records is then just another collection, adn we can use the same tools and architecture to search at this more abstract level. 
When a searcher wants to search further in a GILS-compliant source found in a referral record, the search setup is automatic because the record contains the Z39.50 URL. In other words, searches can be hyperlinked just like Web pages.

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Standards and Perspectives
- Convergence
- Search Interoperability
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## Z39.50 Register of Implementors

- 	Adlib Information Systems B.V.Ameritech Library ServicesARCA Consortium|a|S|tec| angewandte Systemtechnik GmbHAurora Information TechnologyAuto-Graphics Inc.Axiell Biblioteks System ABBasis Systeme netzwerk (BSn)Best Seller, Inc.Bibliotekstjdnst AB BIBSYS BLCMP Library Services Ltd.Blue Angel Technologies

- 	Book Systems, Inc.BSZ Baden-WurttembergBrigham & Women's Hospital British LibraryCARL CorporationCarnegie-Mellon University LibrariesCenter for Networked Information 	Discovery and RetrievalCEO Programme, ENRM Development team CEOS (Commitee on Earth 	Observation Satellites)CGI Group Inc.

## Z39.50 Register of Implementors

- 	Chemical Abstracts ServiceCosmotron Systems Ltd.Crossnet Systems LimitedCOPAC Danish Library Centre, DanBibDartmouth CollegeData Research Associates, Inc.Data Trek, Inc.DBV-OSI II Consortium Dedicated ResponseDialog CorporationDIMDI (Deutsches Institut fuer Medizinische	Dokumentation und Information)Distributed Systems Technology CentreDV Consulting

- 	EBSCO PublishingELiAS Endeavor Information Systems, Inc.EnWare,S.AEuropean Space AgencyExcalibur Technologies CorporationFachinformationszentrum (FIZ) KarlsruheFinsiel S.p.A.Florida Center for Library AutomationFretwell-Downing Data SystemsFulcrum Technologies, IncGaylord CyberOdyssey GroupGeac GTIS (Government Telecommunication,	Canada)

## Z39.50 Register of Implementors

- 	Harbinger GmbH Hardcover SoftwareIndex DataInformation Access CompanyInnovative Interfaces Inc.INVESTools, Inc. Island Edge Research, Inc. ISM Library Information Services Japan Science and Technology Corporation Joanneum ResearchLEXIS-NEXISLive Content Engineering & Design Pty LtdThe Library CorporationLibrary of CongressLIBRIS (Royal Library, Sweden)

- 	Lucent Technologies - Bell Laboratories Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMiepMnSCU/PALSNational Center for Supercomputing 		Applications (NCSA) Nat. Institute of Standards and Technology National Library of AustraliaNational Library of CanadaNational Library of MedicineNational Library of NorwayOCLCOptimus Prime Pty LtdOvid TechnologiesPace University School of Law

## Z39.50 Register of Implementors

- 	Penn State University, 	Library Computing ServicesPicaPreston-Whitelaw, Ltd. 	(an Internet Systems, Inc. Co.)Raytheon Systems CompanyStowe Computing AustraliaSunstone SystemsSystem Simulation Ltd.Tabula Interactive, Inc.Taliesin Software Research, Inc.Tieto CorporationUNI-C (Danish Computing Centre 	for Research and Education)UIGGM SB RAS

- 	University of BradfordUniversity of California, 	Office of the PresidentUniversity of California at San FranciscoUniveristy of Newcastle University of Texas at Austin, 	General Libraries University of WashingtonUniversity of Wisconsin MadisonU.S. Geological SurveyU.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeVirginia Tech.VITROCISET S.p.A. VTLS, Inc.Washington University School of Medicine

## GILS Presentation Outline

- Concepts
- Standards and Perspectives
- Convergence
- Z39.50 Implementors
- GILS and Geospatial Initiatives
- International and other National
- U.S. National
- U.S. States
- Communities

**Notes:**
With some basic concepts in mind, I’d like to describe how I see GILS in the evolution of information discovery mechanisms.

## GILS and Geospatial Initiatives - Other Nations / International

- 	African Spatial Data Infrastructure Initiative, Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Australia New Zealand Land Information Council, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Caribbean, CERCO, Columbia, Committee on Earth Observing Satellites, Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, DESIRE, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, EUROGI, European Environment Agency, European Legislative Virtual Library, European Space Agency, European Territorial Management Information Infrastructure, Finland, ...

**Notes:**
We don’t have time to elaborate on all the initiatives, so I’ll just comment on a few particular ones. If you see another one on this list that you find interesting, just check out the Web site or send me an e-mail note for a follow-up contact.
I think Australia deservers special note, especially in their extensive work on geospatial data and information, and major contributions in the technology realm as well. 
I’d also like to single out Canada as the first nation outside the United States to begin work on a national GILS initiative. 
The Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network is actually a non-government organization based at Columbia University. These folks have created wonderful collections of content, focusing primarily on geospatial, political and social research. They operate an “information cooperative” that was operating in 40 countries when I last checked. They have also been in the forefront of creating freeware technology. 
The European Legislative Virtual Library is remarkable to me for its ambitious scope—to connect the holdings of parliaments throughout Europe and provide not only common search mechanisms but a multi-lingual thesaurus of legal terminology.

## GILS and Geospatial Initiatives - Other Nations / International

- 	France, Germany, GI2000, Global Change Master Directory, Global Environmental Information Locator Service, Global Forest Information Service, Global Inventory Project, Greece, Guatemala, Health Information Locator Service for Latin America and the Caribbean, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, INFEO, InterAmerican Biodiversity Information Network, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kiribati, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, ...

**Notes:**
The Global Environmental Information Locator Service grew out of work on a G8 Global Information Society Project called “Environment and Natural Resources Management. In this project, we found consensus on GILS as a global mechanism for information discovery. This resulted in freeware developed by European agencies and disseminated in countries throughout the world. It also established GILS as  the common search mechanism in two very prominent international conventions--the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. 
I learned about the Health Information Locator Service for Latin America and the Caribbean during a medical libraries meeting in Costa Rica. In addition to local sources, this GILS-based system is able to exploit the medical literature available at the U.S. National Library of Medicine. I understand they have also been funded for further work through the United Nations Program on Human Sustainable Development. 

## GILS and Geospatial Initiatives - Other Nations / International

- 	Pakistan, Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia & the Pacific, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trans-European Research and Education Network, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United Nations Environment Program, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Program on Human Sustainable Development, Uruguay, Venezuela

**Notes:**
The Russian Federation is working on a geospatial data initiative and on a system called “University Information System – Russia” concerned with public access to government information. In fact, the leader of University Information System – Russia, Tatyana Yudina, is with us here today from Moscow.
The United Nations Environment Program will carry on the work of coordinating environmental metadata initiatives as started in the G8 Global Information Society Project. This will cover a variety of international environmental agreements and a new system called “UNEP Net” that may become a model for all UN agencies.  

## GILS and Geospatial Initiatives - United States (National) 

- 	Advanced Search Facility, Census Bureau, Center for Integration of Natural Disaster Information, Clearinghouse for Government Information, DefenseLink, Digital Earth, Federal Resources for Education Excellence, Federal Depository Library Program, FedSearch, FirstGov, Gateway to Educational Materials, Gateway to the Earth, Global Change Data and Information System, Government Printing Office, Library of Congress Thomas, Master Environmental Library, ...

**Notes:**
The Advanced Search Facility is a sophisticated set of freeware that includes a Web crawler as well as an indexer and server compliant with both GILS and the Geospatial Profile.  
Most of you are likely aware of the Federal Depository Library Program. This encompasses over 1400 libraries throughout the United States, with many thousands of government information specialists providing front-line services to the public. 
A recent initiative at the U.S. Federal level is the FirstGov portal to government information. One component of FirstGov is the FedSearch server that provides a search service against an index of about 30 million Web pages generated by a Web “spider” process. This FedSearch server is required to be GILS-compliant. 
The FirstGov portal itself is required to provide a “search portal” to any servers that support Z39.50 and the GILS Profile. Through this interface, users of FirstGov will be able to find information in FedSearch as well as catalogs, directories, and databases across the Internet. These could include virtually all large libraries in the U.S., such as the Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine, the National Agricultural Library, and the Patent and Trademark Office. There are hundreds of government servers participating in the National Spatial Data Infrastructure Clearinghouse, and the Government Printing Office itself has more than 1,800 databases of information that should be searchable as well.

## GILS and Geospatial Initiatives - United States (National) 

- 	National Atlas of the United States, National Biological Information Infrastructure, National Spatial Data Infrastructure, National Environmental Data Index, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Technical Information Service, National Wetlands Inventory, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Non-Profit Gateway, Patent and Trademark Office, Scientific and Technical Information Network, U.S. Federal GILS

**Notes:**
Here is listed the National Spatial Data Infrastructure. This initiatives encompasses a wide range of stakeholders, including the Federal Geographic Data Committee, the National States Geographic Information Council, the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, the Open GIS Consortium, the Intertribal GIS Council, the International City/County Management Association, the National Association of Counties, and the National League of Cities.
Another of the initiatives is the U.S. Federal GILS, established under public law in 1995 (Title 44 United States Code, Section 3511). The leadership role for U.S. Federal GILS was originally delegated by OMB to NARA and this was reiterated in 1998 by OMB Memorandum 98-5. There have been some strong implementations in a few agencies such as the Department of Defense, and we have great cross-agency initiatives in the spirit of GILS such as FirstGov, GPO Access, the Spatial Data Clearinghouse, and some of the Access America sites. Personally, I am curious to know what plans NARA has to implement the GILS directive under law. 

## GILS and Geospatial Initiatives - U.S. States

-  	Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

**Notes:**
I am aware of 36 U.S. States that have GILS and/or Geospatial initiatives, as listed here. 
Also, in January this year, there was signed a joint statement  by: 
NASIRE (National Association of State Information Resources Executives) 
COSLA (Chief Officers of State Library Associations) and
NAGARA (National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators). 
The statement lays out the goals and cooperation principles under the title: “Electronic Access to Government Information Through Government Information Locator Services”.
You can find more about state initiatives at the States GILS Web site, states.gils.net.

## GILS Initiatives - Communities 

- 	Baltimore, Seamless (Essex, U.K.), Chesapeake, Chicago, CommunityPlanet (Southeastern U.S.), Dane County WI, Fort Lauderdale FL, Gallatin County MT, Greensboro NC, Madison GA, Philadelphia PA, San Bernadino CA, San Francisco CA, Shenandoah Valley, South Florida, Southern Appalachia, Southwest Region, Tallahassee FL, Tillamook County OR, Tennessee Valley Authority, Tijuana River Watershed, Upper Susquehanna/ Lackawanna River Watershed

**Notes:**
I am especially impressed by the community project called “Seamless” (originally called “CIRCE”). This is supporting communities throughout the Essex area of England.  
Perhaps the first adopter of GILS at the community level was the Monticello project under the auspices of Solinet in the Southeastern U.S.This project is now known as “CommunityPlanet”.  

## Further information

- http://www.gils.net

**Notes:**
I hope this overview of concepts, evolution and initiatives has been of some interest. 
As I end the presentation here, I do invite you to check out this web site for further information and links to resources. 
Thank you.