1. 1 Producing maps with which the user can interact A ‘real’ Web GIS, likely to require the greatest infrastructure, the most powerful hardware and software, and the most expensive licensing costs for copyrighted data. Ways to use GIS (2)

2. 2 See www.nationalatlas.gov/

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6. 6 Issues to consider: Software Do you already have access? If you’re a Local Authority, try your Planning Department –But have a good idea what you want to do If you’re in Higher Education, try the Geography Department or your Computing Service –Some GIS software is covered by a ‘CHEST deal’ Do you have access to the skills? Maybe visit GIS 2001, or a similar event? 18–20 September, Earl’s Court. See www.iebusiness-forums.com/gis/

7. 7 Look for standards compliance NOF Technical Guidelines –www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk/nof/ technicalstandards.html Open GIS Consortium –www.opengis.org/techno/ specs.htm. Issues to consider: Software

8. 8 Do you have the data already? And if so, does your license allow you to use it as you want to in this project? If you don’t have the data, how are you going to get it? Buy from Ordnance Survey, Bartholomew, Cities Revealed, etc? –But remember to negotiate a license that lets you do what you want to Digitise from paper originals? –But remember to clear the rights for material that is still in copyright. Issues to consider: Data

9. 9 Are you combining data sources? Scale –Add the roads from a 1:250,000 UK road atlas to buildings from a 1:1,250 urban map, and the results will be very poor Data granularity –If you’ve gathered data on postal area (YO, G, etc.), there’s no point plotting it on a map of postal districts (YO4, G67, etc.) Spurious accuracy –“x lies within 100m of y” –But x and y are drawn from data sources that are only precise to within 50m –So x and y might be adjacent, or they might be 200m apart. Issues to consider: Data

10. 10 Remember… Just because you have access to “a GIS” or a map of your area… not all software or data can do everything you want to it do and even if it can, your license might not let you.

11. 11 Sources of guidance…

12. 12 See http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/goodguides/gis/

13. 13 See www.ordsvy.gov.uk/gis-files/

14. 14 Some pointers… ADS GIS Guide to Good Practice ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/goodguides/gis/ Association for Geographic Information (AGI) www.agi.org.uk/ National Geospatial Data Framework (NGDF) www.ngdf.org.uk/ Open GIS Consortium (OGC) www.opengis.org/ Ordnance Survey (OS) www.ordsvy.gov.uk/ Web–Mapper www.web-mapper.com/