Building a System to Disseminate Digital Map and Geospatial Data Online

The expectation of library patrons to get all of the information they need, including geographic information, accessible on their desktops has created challenges to map and Geographic Information System (GIS) libraries. This new expectation has forced libraries to think about how to design a system that will allow diverse geographical information to be available over the Internet. Some libraries have built a site to distribute localized data, others have developed a system to make only maps accessible online. Princeton University Library's Digital Map and Geospatial Information Center started a pilot map scanning project in early 2004 to build a system, to develop specifications for scanning maps and compressing TIFF images to JPEG2000 file format, and to establish workflows. The system was built using many off-the-shelf commercial software packages. This article discusses challenges of building a system and explains how Princeton developed a scanning process and standards, workflows, and what lessons were learned in building such a system.