Purpose and Approach

The NSGIC Blog is intended to serve as a venue for announcements of and links to a variety of events, web sites, and resources of interest to the general membership of the National States Geographic Information Council. In addition, it should serve as a site for informal discussion (commenting) of some of the issues and ideas that float through and around the community of state GIS Coordinators from time to time.

It is not expected that the discussion here will always reflect the official (or even the general) position of NSGIC as an organization. Venues for formal policy-making and avenues for structured discussion already exist and will continue in their valuable roles.

Warning: Analogy Ahead
Think for a moment about the Annual NSGIC Conference, or the Mid-Year Meeting. There are a variety of formal sessions, including the NSGIC Business Meeting, a selection of committee meetings, and various opportunities to meet, greet, network, and hobnob at the coffee station, over meals, in the lobby, and elsewhere.

This blog should serve the same sort of function as the unstructured, but valuable, chattering time at a conference. The formal business and presentations take place in the main conference venue. Outside, during breaks, and afterwards, there's a sharing of experience and open discussion. "Ancillary activities," to be pseudo-scientific about the idea.

End of Analogy, Back to Plain-Speaking
To that end, the NSGIC Blog Team, listed in the right-hand column, will post short thoughts, links to other web sites, notes about events, pointers to interesting commentary, and occasional announcements.

Feel free to comment. Just remember, the official discourse takes place in the committees, at the meetings, and by the Board of Directors.

It is also worth noting that this blog is open to the internet. It can, and should, be read by anyone interested in the coordination of the use of geospatial data within and among states and between the states and the federal government.