Digimap is an online map and data delivery service, available by subscription to UK Higher and Further Education establishments. Operated by EDINA at the University of Edinburgh, Digimap offers a number of data collections, including Ordnance Survey, historical, geological, aerial photography, LiDAR, marine maps, land cover mapping, global mapping and census data. For more information about Digimap go to our website: https://digimap.edina.ac.uk Background image Contains OS data (c) Crown Copyright and database right 2022
Author: ecls
//Following this afternoon’s diagnostics test, MasterMap Download is now available but running under reduced capacity. Orders for Topography Layer are limited to 5 x 5 km (25 sq. km) as a temporary measure.
Between 07.30 and 09.30 hrs on Thursday 24 September, MasterMap Download will be unavailable to allow a fix to be applied. Further information on its success will be available thereafter.
Apologies for the inconvenience caused.
//The MasterMap Download facility will be temporarily withdrawn at 14.00 hours today, Wednesday 23 September 2009.
Currently, significant software faults are causing most data orders to fail and the system is unstable. Withdrawing access will allow EDINA to undertake diagnostic work to identify a solution to the problem. External software suppliers are also involved.
As yet, we do not know how long the service will need to be unavailable, but futher information will be posted here and on the Digimap login page, as and when it is available.
Should you have an urgent data order, please contact the EDINA Helpdesk with details of the data you require. We cannot process orders immediately, but we may still have an opportunity to meet the advertised 2-day delivery schedule. This very much depends on the problem identified.
EDINA apologises for any inconvenience caused.
//New data
On Thursday 17th September EDINA released all available updates for data provided through Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection. Details of the versions of all the data offered can be found on the EDINA website here. The Digimap licence also now offers MiniScale and the OS 1:250,000 scale colour raster data. These are currently available through ShareGeo and will be added to the Data Download as soon as possible.
Architectural Changes
As well as updating the data, other significant changes have been made to the underlying technologies supporting Digimap. In short, we have replaced the entire GIS architecture which produces the maps you see online.
The new software, from Cadcorp, offers a number of benefits to both EDINA and end users of Digimap. As well as enhanced quality maps and faster map generation online, the printed output gives crisp, clear maps as PDF files. EPS files are no longer available from any facility within Digimap’s OS Collection, including Carto, but EDINA is working on the provision of additional formats to PDF.
New mapping facility: Roam
With the arrival of the new GIS software, EDINA has also developed a new mapping facility, called Roam. Still in a development phase, Roam offers the usual search functions as well as “slippy maps”, the click-and-drag function used to position a map, familiar to users of other popular online mapping facilities. It is easier to locate your map, easier to zoom in and out, and now offers maps at 12 different fixed scales. An additional small scale Ordnance Survey mapping product, MiniScale, has been included, and other datasets (e.g. Strategi and OS MasterMap) are available at more than one fixed scale.
Currently Roam is available as a Beta facility to site representatives only until Monday 5th October, when it will become available to all registered users of Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection. Roam is available from the OS Collection Home page; you will find the new icon next to those for Classic and Carto. It will be greyed out if you don’t yet have access to it.
Roam will run in Beta alongside the current Classic facility until January 2010 when Classic will be withdrawn entirely. Regular updates will be made to Roam to add new functionality, such as MyMaps, prior to its release as a full service in January 2010.
If you have any questions about this email or about Digimap in general, please do not hesitate to contact the EDINA Helpdesk on edina@ed.ac.uk
//Remember that you need to renew your institution’s subscription to Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection BEFORE 30 September 2009 in order to ensure continuity of service.
If your institution has not completed and returned the appropriate licensing forms by this date, access to Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection will be removed.
Owing to the way access is controlled under the UK Federation there will be no exceptions to and no leeway given for this date. If you have already requested an invoice, you still need to return the subscription forms to the address supplied on the forms by 30 September 2009.
Should you have any questions please contact either JISC’s Subscription Agent (subscriptionshelp@jisc.ac.uk) or the EDINA Helpdesk (edina@ed.ac.uk)
//The following event may be of interest to Digimap users.
Following the success of the ESRI Technical Event held at the University of Leeds in 2008, Eduserv and ESRI have arranged a second meeting, to be held at the University of Birmingham on 15th September 2009. The meeting is intended to bring together people from universities and colleges who are either using ArcGIS (or other ESRI software) or providing and supporting ESRI software in their institutions. In addition to an overview of the new facilities in the latest version of ArcGIS, other topics include a visit to Birmingham University’s 3-D Visualisation Suite, a discussion of how to make the most of the ArcGIS licence management system and an introduction to ArcGIS in virtualised or server environments. There is also plenty of time to meet and talk with colleagues from other institutions and staff from ESRI UK.
Lunch will be provided and there is no charge for the event. However, you do need to register your interest in attending. You can do this online at MyESRIUK here:
Date: Tuesday 15 September 2009
Time: 10:00am tea and coffee for a 10:30am start
Location: University of Birmingham (specific details and map will be provided upon registration)
Timetable:
10:00am – tea and coffee
10:30am – ESRI Introduction: Angela Baker (ESRI UK)
10:50am – Virtualisation vs. ArcGIS Server: Peter Halls (University of York) and Alison Rumble (ESRI UK)
11.20am – User Experience Talk
12.00pm – 2.00pm – Lunch with time for networking as well as guided
tours of the Virtualisation Suite at University of Birmingham
2.00pm – Interoperable Landmap and EDINA data and services: Kamie Kitmitto (Mimas)
2:30pm – new features of ArcGIS 9.3.1 and extensions – demonstration by Alison
Rumble (ESRI UK)
3:00pm – Break for tea and coffee
3:30pm – Licensing Issues: Anna Clough (University of Leeds) and Peter
Halls (University of York). Topics include: how to find out how many
users you really have and who those users are (flex logfile analysis);
non-dongled support; use outside of the British Isles; licence servers.
4:00pm – Question and Answer
4:30pm – Tea / Coffee to close.
For full details of the Chest Agreement for ESRI please visit www.eduserv.org.uk/ESRI
If you have any questions, please see the Eduserv website or contact Eduserv Help at help@eduserv.org.uk
//On 1 August 2009, the Ordnance Survey Data Sub-Licence Agreement was extended and amended by a Variation Agreement. If institutions wish to continue their subscription to Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection, the Variation Agreement must be signed and returned by Wednesday 30 September 2009. Institutions not submitting renewal forms by this date will have access to the service removed. There will be no exceptions to this. Details of how to re-subscribe are given on the JISC Collections website.
When an institution re-subscribes to Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection, it agrees to the terms of the Ordnance Survey Data Sub-Licence Agreement AND the Variation Agreement. Some of the clauses in the Sub-Licence Agreement are superseded by those in the Variation Agreement. Both documents must be read in conjunction with one another, since one is not valid without the other.
EDINA has drawn up a set of Frequently Asked Questions to help you understand what the the Sub-Licence and Variation Agreements will permit in terms of map and data usage. These can be found at: http://edina.ac.uk/digimap/support/faq_oslicence.html
The following is a summary of the changes which are brought into effect on 1 August 2009 by the Variation Agreement. The original Sub-Licence Agreement holds good unless it has been amended by the Variation Agreement. Please read the Variation Agreement itself for full details of the amendments.
Overseas Students are also specifically excluded from being Authorised Users, unless they are resident within the UK. Check the wording of the Variation Agreement carefully. Note also that it is the institution’s responsibility to ensure that students who are not eligible for access to this service are not given the means to access it. Under the UK Federation, EDINA is not able to check eligibility.
Both the Sub-Licence Agreement and the Variation Agreement are available from EDINA’s website:
Questions regarding the subscription process and the licence agreements should be directed at JISC Collections. Questions relating to the Digimap service should be directed at the EDINA Helpdesk.
//The poll regarding a new name for Digimap’s new mapping facility has now closed.
//As indicated in a previous post, EDINA is creating a new version of the existing Classic mapping facility.
Given that the new facility works in a very different way, we would like to give it a new name. We have a number of suggestions, and would like to know your views on them. To this end, we have posted a poll on this blog (look to the top right hand side of this window) for you to vote with.
There are a number of things we need to take into account in choosing a name. For example:
1. It needs to give the mapping facility an identity. When users contact our helpdesk asking for assistance with it, they need to be able to refer to it by name with confidence that we will know what they are referring to. Similarly, our helpdesk need to be confident that they understand which facility a user is talking about, and using an easily identifiable and catchy name for it is an easy means to that end.
2. It needs to be memorable – users need to know which facility they are using.
3. It needs to be unique, not used by any other mapping organisation for a mapping service or product.
Vote on the blog here, or if you would rather, send us an email with your ideas. Thanks for your help!
//Have you created geospatial data for your research project or teaching module?
If so, why not put it in ShareGeo and share it with other Digimap users?
ShareGeo is a facility in Digimap where users can share and re-use geospatial data, whether they have been derived from exiting Digimap data or created entirely from scratch.
Why should I put my data in ShareGeo?
Also, you will:
What’s new in ShareGeo?
New datasets available in ShareGeo include: UK Digital Terrain Model (DEM), UK National Parks boundaries, Government Office Regions, Strategic Health Authority boundaries and many others.
A full list of all datasets in ShareGeo can be found here.
How do I access ShareGeo?
ShareGeo can be accessed by logging in to Digimap and following the link on the Collections page to ShareGeo. http://edina.ac.uk/digimap/
More information about ShareGeo can be found at: http://edina.ac.uk/projects/sharegeo/index.shtml
Let us know what you think about ShareGeo by sending an email to: mailto:edina@ed.ac.uk?subject=ShareGeo
//The current version of Digimap’s Classic facility (available through the Ordnance Survey Collection) is currently undergoing both a facelift and some reconstruction work!
Later this year we will be introducing “slippy” maps (drag the map with your mouse to move it around) and some new ways of saving your maps and producing printed copies. The new facility will offer the same maps and the same functions as those currently available but will be easier and more intuitive to use. Everyday use of online mapping technology has grown dramatically since the current version of Classic was released. Users’ familiarity with online mapping has increased and there are now common expectations of how map services online should work. The current re-engineering aims to accommodate these changes and build a service which meets those expectations.
Although this is still work in progress, below is a sneak preview of how the new version might look.
EDINA will operate both new and existing versions of this facility in parallel to ensure that a smooth transition is made between them. If you have teaching materials or help pages which are currently based on the existing version, there will be plenty of time to update them before the existing version of Classic is withdrawn.
