Partners
The United States government, led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has initiated a project to cooperatively develop, market, and distribute The National Atlas of the United States of America®. The participation of many agencies of the federal government has been crucial to the successful development of the National Atlas. Congress recognized that no single government agency could deliver an atlas that is truly national in scope and breadth when it assigned the USGS to direct the project. That's why so many Federal producers of reliable and authoritative geographic information have joined in developing National Atlas products.
If you work for the Federal government learn how your agency can benefit from participating in the National Atlas.
National Atlas Partners |
Participate in the Development of the National Atlas!
Here are some of the reasons why agencies are participating in the production of the National Atlas:
- The National Atlas includes flagship products that enhance the public perception and reputation of all participants.
- It increases the recognition and understanding of agency missions and programs and heightens public awareness of issues important to participating organizations.
- The Atlas allows participants to demonstrate the relevance of their programs through the generation of integrated products that Atlas customers can use to assess and understand national conditions and trends.
- The National Atlas allows government organizations to reach enormous and influential audiences beyond their traditional customers.
- Agency employees recognize that they have essential contributions to make and that the American public expects a comprehensive National Atlas to include this vital information.
- Agency employees recognize that they have essential contributions to make and that the American public expects a comprehensive National Atlas to include this vital information.
- Duplicative efforts to collect data and develop costly web-based mapping systems can be reduced or eliminated.
- The National Atlas can supplement an organization's own information access and delivery capabilities or it can serve as a primary means by which an agency publishes and distributes its national spatial data and information.
- National Atlas participants gain early access to authoritative, reliable, documented, and relevant GIS data bases that support multiple uses.
- Participating organizations are discovering cooperative research and development opportunities for their agencies with other National Atlas partners.
- The National Atlas adheres to standards for data documentation, access, and delivery so that it can deliver your information to any open mapping system or service.
- Finally, the National Atlas represents a practical partnership opportunity to deliver on the promise of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure.
The roles and responsibilities government partners assume may differ by organization. Here are some of the ways in which agencies and individuals have engaged in the development of the National Atlas:
- contributed data and documentation;
- provided access to data producers who are knowledgeable about the content and applications of their data;
- provided narrative content, articles, and multimedia maps to convey additional information about their programs and projects;
- provided assistance in appropriate methods to reduce and generalize these data;
- suggested or developed products that highlight the importance of their data collection and analysis activities;
- promoted the goals and objectives of the National Atlas, and
- offered support and advice on optimal digital and graphic presentations of their information.
For more information on participating in the production of the National Atlas, please contact Jay Donnelly at (703) 648-5395 (E-mail -- jpdonnelly@usgs.gov).
