Overview:
Geospatial One-Stop (GOS) is an intergovernmental project managed by the Department of the Interior (DOI) in support of the President's Initiative for E-government. GOS builds upon its partnership with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) to improve the ability of the public and government to use geospatial information to support the business of government and facilitate decision-making. It is one of 24 E-Government initiatives sponsored by the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to enhance government efficiency and to improve citizen services. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is required to report on our participation in these initiatives to OMB, and we are actively participating in GOS. FWS has an active national account on GOS that allows all the spatial metadata that we publish on the FGDC Clearinghouse to be harvested by GOS as well on a regular basis.
The geodata portal provides access to an abundance of geospatial information including data, tools, standards, advance notice of data investments and community sites that can be used to share specialized information such as fire data. The following information provides a very brief description of each of the major areas in GOS and is intended only to give users an idea of the potential uses of the project.
Additional information on the project and some of the section can be found at http://www.usgs.gov/ngpo/ngporesources.html. The USGS National Geospatial Program Office has the responsibility for implementing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure and Geospatial One-Stop is an important tool in that process.
The URL http://gos2.geodata.gov links to the GOS home page. This page contains a number of different sections with a preview or taste of the various options such as featured maps, communities, data search or help. There are 7 tabs across the top of the page. Each one is described below.
Help Center:
Although this tab is all the way to the right on the page, it is the recommended starting point for anyone that has not used this site before. It also provides good background information on GOS, links to related federal initiatives such as the FGDC, and assistance for experienced users that want to try a new function or are just having problems. The Quick Start Guide steps users through all the more common activities. To fully utilize the GOS portal you should establish a user account, following the directions here.
Search:
This function allows the users to search for data using a multitude of parameters. Users can locate data with a map interface of descriptive text. Because there is so much data indexed it may take some time to learn what parameters will give you the best results. It is recommended that you try this search function for the first time when you have the time to learn, not in a short turn-around situation.
As an example, you can try searching for "wildlife refuge". We currently have hundreds of metadata records for refuge boundaries registered in GOS. If you type in wildlife refuge in the simple search box, you will get over 100 hits. Try selecting an area on the adjacent map, selecting 'Use my geography' and run the search again. You should come up with a much smaller number of records to view. Like the older bibliographic searches it takes some time to learn the most effective way to use this search engine, but it is worth the effort.
Maps:
This tab gives you access to the on-line map viewer. You can create your own map or view many established maps. For users unfamiliar with on-line mapping (or mapping in general!) not all the data will be visible at all scales: for example detailed local roads will not be visible when you are looking at the entire United States. Each application (map) should have a help screen telling you about that map and the data available. Also, the maps shown in GOS may be only a subset of those available if you visit the originating web site. This is particularly true for something like The National Map.
Marketplace:
The Marketplace area is designed to allow users to find and share information about planned data acquisitions and data needs. It also offers a link to grants.gov to find information about grants related to geospatial activities. Registration at this site is strongly encouraged. For FY 2006 Federal agencies are required to inventory and document all planned or proposed data collection activities that will be funded at $500,000 or greater. Additional information on this effort can be found in this document GOS_marketplace_posting.zip (832 K). The document also has good information on existing policy and related legal requirements concerning geospatial data.
Communities:
Communities are areas of special interest. Once you have created an account on GOS you can join a community and be able to post questions, share documents, request data - a variety of activities. This function is being used extensively by the GIS staff working on the various hurricane responses as it allowed a venue for rapidly updating and sharing vast quantities of new data. It is possible to establish new communities as well, working with the GOS managers.
Statistics:
This section is a reporting area showing usage of the GOS portal.
For additional information regarding this Web page, contact Deb Southworth Green, in the Division of Information Resources and Technology Management, at Deb_Green@fws.gov
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Keywords=GIS, data
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