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*apologies for cross-posting*
ALL MAPPED OUT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
A major agreement has been reached for the provision of digital map
data products of Britain for use in Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs) in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The agreement is between Ordnance Survey, Britain's national mapping
agency, and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), acting
for the Higher Education Funding Bodies for each country.
The data will be supplied for teaching, educational research and
academic research purposes by students and lecturers in up to 172
subscribing HEIs.
"This agreement is excellent for both Ordnance Survey and Higher
Education," says Jim Page, Data Products Portfolio Manager of
Ordnance Survey. "It will enable staff and students to use actual
Ordnance Survey map data in their teaching, studies and research
projects, thereby building awareness and confidence in its
application. We are investing in Britain's future for our future."
JISC negotiator Dave Cook is equally pleased. "Through this agreement
we are securing access to definitive map data of Britain for the
benefit of the higher education community as a whole. This data will
join a range of other core databases which form an essential resource
for university students and lecturers."
He adds: "JISC are investing significantly in ensuring that the data
will be supplied on-line efficiently, securely and in a user-friendly
way, drawing on the experience and technical capabilities of the
Edinburgh University Data Library. It is important that we can cater
for the full range of map data manipulation capabilities within
universities and the Data Library has a proven track record in this
field".
The Ordnance Survey data covered by the agreement have been selected
following extensive consultation within the higher education
community. They are:
· Land-Line - large scale comprehensive data depicting man-made and
natural features ranging from houses and factories, roads and rivers,
to marshland and administrative boundaries. The agreement provides
for 30% of national coverage - the equivalent of around 70,000
highly-detailed maps.
· Meridian - a medium scale dataset containing a comprehensive road
network, main passenger railways and open stations, county district
and unitary authority boundaries, developed land use areas and place
names. The agreement provides for full national coverage.
· Strategi - a small scale dataset containing road and rail networks,
water features, cities, towns and other settlements, woods and land
use and geographic names. The agreement provides for full national
coverage.
· Land-Form PANORAMA - contours and terrain model data at 1: 50,000
scale. The agreement provides for full national coverage.
· 1:50 000 Place Names Gazetteer - all 258,000 names and their
national grid references that appear on Ordnance Survey 1:50,000
scale Landranger mapping.
JISC subscription fees for the service will range from £1,750 per
annum for small institutions to £4,750 per annum for large
institutions.
Access to these data, and to facilities for online mapping, will be
provided by EDINA, the JISC National Data Centre based at Edinburgh
University Data Library, under contract to the JISC. EDINA will be
responsible for the management, support, security and distribution of
the Ordnance Survey data to Higher Education Institutions that
subscribe to the scheme. Additional support will be provided by
MIDAS, another JISC National Data Centre based at Manchester
Computing.
Peter Burnhill, Director of EDINA, comments: "This is a wonderful
opportunity and challenge for EDINA. We will bring to bear
experience already gained on the Digimap project, a JISC funded eLib
trial working in collaboration with Ordnance Survey, which has been
looking at the provision of mapping services to six university
library test sites."
The service will be introduced in two stages: an initial service
from January 2000, and the full range of facilities from September
2000, in time for the start of the academic year. HIGHER EDUCATION
INSTITUTIONS WANTING TO REGISTER INTEREST IN THE SERVICE SHOULD EMAIL
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Notes for Editors:
1. Ordnance Survey is Britain's national mapping agency, producing,
maintaining and marketing a wide range of maps and digital map data
for business, leisure, educational and administrative use. Visit our
web site at www.ordsvy.gov.uk for more information about our products
and services.
2. The Joint Information System Committee (JISC) acts on behalf of
the Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland and Wales
and the Department of Education Northern Ireland. It enables access
to digital information and datasets for the higher education
community as a whole, as well as providing and managing the network
infrastructure linking all higher education institutions. More
information about the work of theJISC is available at
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/.
3. Ordnance Survey, the OS symbol, Land-Line, Strategi and Landranger
are registered trade marks, and Meridian and Land-Form PANORAMA
are trade marks of Ordnance Survey.
4. EDINA provides staff and students in UK higher education with
online access to specialist datasets. Visit the web site at
edina.ed.ac.uk for further information on these services; look at
digimap.ed.ac.uk for further information about the development of the
Digimap project.
5. For more information please contact:
Digimap Team / EDINA Phone: 0131 650 3302; Fax: 0131 650 3308, E
Mail - [log in to unmask]
Alicia Wise, JISC Collections Manager Phone: 0171 848 2556
Philip Round, Ordnance Survey Senior Press Officer Phone: 01703
792635
Paula Good, Ordnance Survey Press Officer
_____________________________________________________________
Alicia L. Wise
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Collections Manager
Joint Information Systems Committee
Information Services & Systems
King's College London Tel: (0171) 848 2556
Strand Fax: (0171) 848 1777
London WC2R 2LS Mobile: (0411) 376 256
UK
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