New E-Newsletter to Focus on the Survey/GIS Nexus

Professional Surveyor Magazine has announced plans for a new e-mail newsletter focused on land surveying, GIS, laser scanning, aerial mapping and hydrographics.

As we witness emerging technologies in this fascinating field, we cannot help but notice how technologies are combining in new ways to yield faster turnarounds, new value-added services, and enhanced performance for those of us in geo-technology fields.

It is to be called Pangaea (pan-jee-uh) "after the supercontinent from which our seven continents were formed."

The launch is set for September. The newsletter will go out to subscriber e-mail accounts on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. Subscription will be free. Professional Surveyor plans to e-mail invitations to its contact list and will offer subscription on-line.

Who Will We Be Listening To? Reading? Watching?

Directions Magazine is looking for suggestions as to who we, as a geospatial community, will be listening to in the near future. They have established a survey looking for the most influential people in the geospatial world for 2010 and beyond.

Many, many people have helped get us to we where we are today; their names fill the textbooks and magazines of the last 35 years. Who will fill those shoes in the coming years?

The survey asks for name, title, and reasons why that person should be considered for inclusion in a community-wide vote, later this summer to "tease out the top ten."

Who will you be listening to?

An Intriguing Question

There's legislation proposed in Texas to require a disclaimer on maps or on-line data hosted by government agencies if that data "was not produced using information from an on-the-ground survey conducted by or under the supervision of a registered professional land surveyor."

The disclaimer would have to say:

This product is for informational purposes and may not have been prepared for or be suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. It does not represent an on-the-ground survey and represents only the approximate relative location of property boundaries.

Joe Francica had a post on All Points Blog about this yesterday (Texas Bill to Require Disclaimer on Geospatial Data) and he and Adena Schutzberg discuss it today on their Podcast.

It's an interesting discussion. Adena notes that the idea does do one thing that GIS professionals would support; it highlights the need for some disclaimer about what data users are looking at ("Data on map may be closer than they appear.")

But she also asks what I think is a key question:

Are there sites out there where you can actually get on-line data that was produced by a surveyor that can be used for legal engineering and survey purposes?

We spend most of our time looking at stuff that is specifically not; that does not fall into that category because that is where most GIS lives right now.

So it would be really interesting to see the other side of the coin, whether it is from Texas or another state.

On the face of it, this is a requirement that makes a certain amount of sense, but does it solve a particular problem? Is it truly meaningful?

And, once we start looking at this issue closely, where does it finally lead? To more "GIS V. Survey" fights? Or to tough questions like that posed by Ms. Schutzberg?

We Really Do Want to Know...

Got a minute to take a short survey? The NSGIC Communications Committee is looking at the future of the NSGIC Newsletter. We've put together a few questions about your use of the Newsletter and of some alternatives.

Click Here to take survey. Seriously. It'll just take a minute. There are only seven questions. Do it now.