Ordnance Survey Licence Renewal

ecls/ / Access, Digimap News

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 Some of the clauses in the Sub-Licence Agreement are superseded by those in the Variation Agreement.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.

  1. The definition of Authorised User has changed. An individual must fulfill three conditions in order to be an Authorised User. Individuals must:
    1. be a student of, staff (both current or retired) of, or visitor to an Authorised Institution
    2. be authorised by an Authorised Institution to access the Authorised Institution’s electronic information services via secure authentication; and
    3. be registered with EDINA Digimap

    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.

  2. All references to Athens have been superseded by references to the UK Access Management Federation.
  3. Class Registration is no longer possible. This has been the case since the introduction of the UK Access Management Federation in August 2008, but has now been formalised in this Variation Agreement. Assigning one username to more than one individual (as per a Class registrations) is not permitted under UK Federation policy.
  4. Authorised Users are now explicitly permitted to share data with other Authorised Users, either in the same or another Authorised Institution. This was previously implicit, but has now been made explicit. Sharing data between Authorised Institutions is still subject to completion of the Transfer of Data form as specified in the original Sub-Licence Agreement (Schedule 7, section 8.1)
  5. The Permissible Publication Sizes have been amended. These now offer a significant improvement on the previous restrictions to the size of maps published. For example, it is now possible to publish a map of Great Britain in electronic format. Please read Schedule 2 of the Variation Agreement for specific details of the new rules.
  6. Two new datasets have been included in the agreement: MiniScale® and the 1:250,000 Scale Colour Raster. A full list of products available can be found on the EDINA website.

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.

New facility, new name

ecls/ / Consultations, Digimap News

As indicated in a previous post, EDINA is creating a new version of the existing Classic mapping facility.

New Digimap Facility
A sneaky peek at the new interface under development....

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!

ShareGeo for Sharing Data

ecls/ / Digimap News

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?

  • increase the visibility of your research
  • share datasets easily with colleagues and peers
  • create a record of your data with simple metadata
  • manage your data for future use

Also, you will:

  • find datasets you may be interested in
  • save time by re-using existing data that others have created

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

Forthcoming changes to Digimap

ecls/ / Digimap News, New Features

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.

Survey for Support Staff

ecls/ / Consultations

EDINA is undertaking a survey to understand more about support for online geospatial resources, spatial data, GIS and related software. We would like to learn more about what support and training is currently available, what is useful and what might be provided to improve the support available.

If you have any kind of support role with respect to spatial data, GIS, CAD or geospatial resources we would be grateful if you would complete the following survey and would pass it on to others who are also involved in supporting users of all things geospatial.

The survey link is here: http://tinyurl.com/geosupportsurvey

The survey will remain open and available until TUESDAY 23 JUNE 2009.

This is NOT a service-specific survey, so anyone involved in supporting users of geospatial data and resources has something valuable to contribute. Please pass it on. Gathering feedback is a challenging task, so your efforts to complete these questions is very much appreciated.

The survey should take around 20 minutes to complete and the majority of questions are multiple choice checkboxes. There will be a prize draw for four £25 Amazon vouchers. Please enter your name and email address at the end of the survey if you wish to be entered into the draw.

Many thanks for your time.

What do you know about postcodes?

ecls/ / Of Interest

There is a lot to know about UK postcodes! Here are some interesting key facts:

  • There are around 2 million postcodes in the UK, covering something like 29 million addresses.
  • A postcode is made up of four constituent parts. Take the postcode EH9 1PR as an example:
    • The postcode Area is indicated by the initial one or two letters: EH
    • The post District is indicated by the one or two numbers following the Area: EH9
    • The postcode Sector is indicated by the number after the District: EH9 1
    • The postcode Unit is indicated by the full postcode: EH9 1PR
  • Some buildings can contain delivery addresses with different postcodes. High-rise residential buildings are a good example of these. As far as the Code-Point dataset is concerned these are called Vertical Streets, and their boundaries are recorded as regular squares. These are clearly visible when the postcode boundaries are mapped.
  • Usually postcodes cover around 15 delivery addresses, although this isn’t a hard and fast rule.
  • Some postcodes apply to only one address or building. Ordnance Survey’s postcode is SO16 4GU. Buckingham Palace also has it’s own postcode, SW1A 1AA, and 10 Downing Street’s postcode is SW1A 2AA. The House of Commons is SW1A 0AA
  • Postcode unit boundaries (which form the OS Code-Point Polygons dataset) are mathematically calculated around a centroid and are not based on physical boundaries visible on the ground. This centroid is calculated using the coordinates for the delivery points in each postcode. These are not necessarily the precise geographic coordinats of the letterbox in your front door!
  • The Code-Point dataset offered through Digimap provides much more information than just the postcode and the coordinates of it’s centroid. Additional information includes the NHS Region code, Ward name, how many delivery addresses are in that postcode, how many of those are domestic or business delivery points. The range of information given is different for Scotland from England and Wales.
  • These enable you to link additional information to the postcode if it is already associated with a code common to the postcode dataset e.g. you can identify which postcodes are associated with data you have collected using Ward codes.
  • You can use Digimap’s Postcode Query facility (in the Ordnance Survey Collection) to look up the additional information about a particular postcode.
  • You can use Digimap’s Boundary Download facility to download the Code-Point data and the associated polygons.

Reminder: Service Maintenance 26 May

ecls/ / Service Availability

This is a reminder that all Digimap Collections will be unavailable between 17.30 and 20.00 hours on Tuesday 26 May. This is for essential service maintenance.

A further reminder: if you register for Digimap after 5 pm tonight, Monday 25 May, your registration will not be processed until the night of Wednesday 27 May.

Digimap and Licence Numbers

ecls/ / Digimap News

I’ve been asked to provide my institution’s “Digimap Licence Number”. Where do I find this?

There is no such thing as a “Digimap Licence Number”. If you need a specific licence number, we would suggest the OS Educational Copyright Licence number is the most appropriate one to use.

This licence is arranged directly between the institution and Ordnance Survey and therefore doesn’t relate to Digimap specifically. Institutions can hold an OS Educational Copyright Licence without having a subscription to Digimap, although the licence is required in order to take out a subscription to Digimap.

A copy of the licence (on which you will find the licence number) is held by your institution and the licence number is submitted with your institution’s Digimap subscription forms, which are sent to JISC Collection’s subscription agent. Ordnance Survey will also have a record of it.

Service maintenance – registration delay

ecls/ / Access, Service Availability

EDINA is undertaking some service maintenance on Tuesday 26 May, as previously advertised.

If you are registering for Digimap between 5pm on Monday 25 May and 9am on Wednesday 27 May 2009, your registration will not be processed until the evening of Wednesday 27 May 2009.

This means you will not be able to access Digimap until the morning of 28 May 2009. Applications received on Wednesday 27 May will be processed as usual that night.

EDINA is undertaking significant work on the databases underlying Digimap, and as a result, registration applications will be collected but not processed while this work takes place.