Browsing by Author "Majewicz, Karen"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Consortial Geospatial Data Collection: Toward Standards and Processes for Shared GeoBlacklight Metadata
    (Journal of Library Metadata, 2018-03-13) Battista, Andrew; Majewicz, Karen; Balogh, Stephen; Hardy, Darren
    Consortial geospatial data communities, such as the OpenGeoPortal federation and the GeoBlacklight initiative, facilitate contextualized discovery and promote metadata sharing to disperse hosting and preservation responsibilities across institutions. However, the challenges of communal metadata are manifold; they include proliferating standards, varying levels of completeness, mutable technology infrastructures, and uneven availability of human labor. Drawing from literature on metadata quality control, we outline a procedure for “scoring” GeoBlacklight records to establish a Domain Specific Language for metadata best practices. We propose strategies for authorship and management conducive to functionally interoperable geospatial metadata, that is versioned and enhanceable by the collective.
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    Ephemeral Geodata: An Impending Digital Dark Age
    (Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, 2024-09-12) Majewicz, Karen; Martindale, Jaime; Kernik, Melinda; Mattke, Ryan
    Despite the unprecedented rate of geospatial data (“geodata”) generation, we are paradoxically creating a potential “dark age” in geospatial knowledge due to a failure to archive it. In the 20th century, map libraries systematically collected and preserved government-issued maps. However, many have not expanded to include digital formats, which have replaced paper maps in most domains. Compounding this issue is the prevailing practice among government data providers to continuously update public data without adequately preserving previous iterations, thus overwriting the historical record. Consequently, a pronounced gap has emerged in the availability of geospatial information, spanning from the end of the paper map era to the recent past. If unaddressed, this gap is poised to widen, severely impeding future longitudinal research. This paper assesses the current and predicted availability of state and local geographic information across various locations and time periods, analyzing academic map collections and public geodata. Central to our argument is the role of academic libraries in bridging this gap by collecting and preserving yesterday’s geodata. We advocate for libraries to ensure that historical geodata will be accessible for future scholars.
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    OpenGeoMetadata Aardvark: A new geospatial metadata application profile
    (Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, 2024-08-13) Majewicz, Karen; Seifried, Rebecca; Powell, Susan
    In this article, we introduce OpenGeoMetadata (OGM) Aardvark, a metadata application profile designed to describe digital resources that are spatial in nature, including geospatial data, digitized maps, scanned aerial imagery, interactive web maps, and more. OGM Aardvark was originally developed for GeoBlacklight software to facilitate discovery with map interfaces and normalized text faceting. However, the schema’s flat structure and human-readable JSON format can be adapted to other platforms to power advanced keyword and spatial searches. We encourage everyone working with geospatial resources to consider using OGM Aardvark to describe these assets, either as the primary profile or to supplement a preservation metadata standard. We review how OGM Aardvark came to be, from its inception in 2014 as the “GeoBlacklight metadata schema” (GBL 1.0) to its current expanded form, and how it compares to other common metadata frameworks, such as MARC, DCAT, or ISO. Examples from GeoBlacklight instances demonstrate how OGM Aardvark enables patrons to discover geospatial resources.
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    A Spatial Collaboration: Building a Multi-Institution Geospatial Data Discovery Portal
    (2017) Blake, Mara; Majewicz, Karen; Mattke, Ryan; Weessies, Kathleen
    As academic education and research increasingly take advantage of geospatial data and methodologies, we see a corresponding exponential growth in the number of available geospatial resources in the form of GIS datasets and scanned historical maps. However, users can experience difficulty finding these resources due to the unconnected multitude of platforms and clearinghouses that host them. Additionally, the resources are not always well described with web semantic metadata that facilitates discovery. In response to this challenge, The Big Ten Academic Alliance Geospatial Data Project began in 2015 to provide discoverability, facilitate access, and connect scholars to geospatial resources. Our project leverages a multi-institutional collaboration and open source technologies to improve discovery for users of geospatial data and scanned maps. We outline collaborative workflows and strategies for a successful multi-institution collaboration.
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    The Story of the Suburbs in Anoka and Hennepin County
    (Anoka, Minn. : Anoka County Historical Society ; Minneapolis, Minn. : Hennepin History Museum, 2011) Larson, Jodi; Majewicz, Karen; Engelking, Kyle
    This report places suburban expansion in Anoka and Hennepin counties in a larger national context and highlights the factors that mark expansion in the Twin Cities as unique.