Patent ID: 7467147

Claim:
A system comprising programmed digital computer for facilitating ad hoc compilation of geospatial data for on-line collaboration, comprising: a waymark component that is digitally-stored in a memory to form a plurality of waymarks comprising: a geospatial component to first, receive from a user, geospatial data defining a location; a metadata component to second, define by the user, metadata describing a physical object associated with the location; and an association component to third, compile the geospatial data with the metadata for one such waymark; a geospatial data sharing database that is digitally-stored with an exportable schema, comprising: one or more dynamically defined categories under which to store the waymarks in; and at least one variable dynamically associated with each such category to identify the metadata and to define one or more attributes specifying a type of data in agreement with the metadata storable in identity with each such variable; a publisher component executed on a computer to publish the categories on-line comprising: a storage component to store each waymark under one such category in the geospatial data sharing database based on the metadata defined by the user; and an access component to access one such waymark in response to a request from another user for that waymark; and a log component to log an interaction between the other user and the physical object associated with the metadata of the accessed waymark.