Code of Maine Rules › 18 - DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES › 127 - MAINE LIBRARY OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION BOARD › Chapter 158 - STANDARDS FOR DIGITAL PARCEL MAPS › Section 127-158-2 - DEFINITIONS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
ASCII -
American Standard Code for
				  Information Interchange. The de facto standard for code numbers used by
				  computers to represent Latin letters, numbers and punctuation.
Assessor's Database
- The database of
				  property assessment information maintained by the assessor; it is also referred
				  to as the tax list, property list, CAMA system, CAMA database, appraisal
				  database etc.
Attribute
- A single element of non-graphic
				  (e.g., name of owner, property area, property value) information stored in a
				  database field and usually, in the context of this standard, associated with a
				  single geographic feature (e.g. a property parcel on a map).
Base Map
- A map portraying basic reference
				  features on the earth's surface (both natural and cultural) onto which other,
				  specialized, features (e.g., property boundaries, water mains) are placed. A
				  common example is a U.S. Geological Survey topographic map.
CAD -
Computer Aided Design. Also sometimes
				  called computer aided drafting, CAD systems assist in 2 and 3 dimensional
				  engineering, architectural design and can be used for cartographic
				  purposes.
Cadastral Map -
A map showing the boundaries
				  of the subdivisions of land for purposes of describing and recording ownership
				  and taxation.
CAMA -
Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal, an
				  automated system for maintaining property data, valuing property, notifying
				  owners, and ensuring tax equity through uniform valuations.
COGO -
Coordinate geometry. A system for
				  encoding and manipulating bearings, angles and distances from survey data into
				  a digital system
Comma Delimited File
- A flat ASCII text file
				  in which the information such as the unique ID and field values are separated
				  by a comma.
Digital Parcel File -
A specific type of
				  vector Spatial Data and is a representation of the boundary information
				  originally depicted and maintained on a city or town assessor's maps. Besides
				  fee ownership boundaries that may appear in this file or files, include public
				  and private rights of way and various different kinds of easements. These files
				  are typically created in and maintained using GIS software.
Digitizing
- The process of converting
				  features on a physical map into digital format. The x,y coordinates of the map
				  features are recorded and stored as spatial data. Digitizing can be done
				  manually on a digitizing tablet, on which the map is registered to a coordinate
				  system and the features traced or by scanning the map and converting the image
				  to vector data either with special software or by manual overtracing on
				  screen.
Feature Attribute Table -
A digital table,
				  also known as an FAT, used to store the attributes of a specific feature class.
				  The
Feature Attribute Table
is linked directly to a
Spatial Data File
. Examples are an ArcView shapefile Dbase
				  table (.DBF), an Arc/Info Polygon Attribute Table (.PAT)
Parcel
- The polygon representing the
				  boundaries of legal ownership or interest on a city or town assessor's
				  maps.
Polygon
- A closed figure of three sides or
				  more bounded by line strings intersecting at nodes.
Raster
- A digital image file in which
				  spatial data expressed as a matrix of discrete units called cells or pixels.
				  Examples are an Arc/Info grid (cells) or a geotiff (pixels).
Registration
- The process of finding
				  reference points on a map or image document and assigning them coordinates from
				  their known positions in the real-world. Once coordinates are specified for
				  enough points on the map/image document, the entire digital document may be
				  mathematically transformed to real-world coordinates for GIS display and
				  analysis.
Related Database
- An attribute table that
				  can be temporarily associated with a
Feature Attribute Table
by making a connection between a record in the
Feature Attribute
				  Table
and a corresponding record in the related attribute
				  table.
Scan
- The process of making a digital image
				  of a document (e.g., a map, text document, or photo). A scanned document can be
				  displayed on a computer screen, but until locations on the document are
				  assigned ("registered") to map coordinates, it cannot be overlaid with map
				  features in a GIS database.
Spatial Data
- A digital file showing the
				  location, shape of and relationships between geographic features. Spatial data
				  can be in either vector or raster format. An example of a vector
Spatial Data File
would be a shape file. An example of a
				  raster
Spatial Data File
would be a GeoTiff file.
Vector -
A digital file in which geographic
				  locations are represented by x and y coordinates. Points are located with a
				  single x,y pair, lines defined by a series of x,y pairs and areas are defined
				  by the line segments that enclose that area, or polygons.