From Paper to Digits: Recent Experiences in Converting Historical Data Sets
Steven Cordiviola
Kentucky Geological Survey
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY, U.S.A.
The Kentucky Geological Survey, a research institute at the University of Kentucky, provides geologic and hydrologic data to many diverse users. The advent of GIS software and its expanded use in government, private enterprise, research, and education has required the transformation of traditional maps, charts, and reports into more readily available electronic formats. The Survey’s goal is to provide users with data in vector, point, and raster formats with a consistent, user-friendly format, regardless of the end-user’s software.
Kentucky has over 750 detailed 7.5-minute, 1:24,000-scale geologic quadrangle maps in paper form. A major project is currently under way to convert the geologic data from these maps into various GIS products. Automated digitizing techniques provide state-of-the-art conversion tools that can enormously accelerate this process. Since geologic data is represented in a variety of techniques on paper copies, converting the equivalent information to electronic form presents special problems and solutions.
The Survey also provides detailed point data from investigations such as oil and gas and water well drilling, coal-bed mapping, water sampling, and mineral exploration. These data were collected from different sources, so the Survey must compile and store everything in similar formats with consistent units. Using a relational database model, the Kentucky Geological Survey has constructed a comprehensive database for which every item of data is tied to a latitude-longitude location. This provides complete compatibility with GIS and other modelling software applications.
In addition to these types of data, the Survey has almost 1 million paper documents that it must maintain, archive, and make accessible to users. Using digital scanning, these documents are captured as images, and pertinent header information about each document is compiled into the database. Users can now search the database online to find documents and either view them, print them, or even have them faxed instead of having to visit our document library.
The physical size of some of the products, the complexity of the data associated with GIS coverages, and the need for cost recovery present special challenges for delivering these products. In addition, the diversity of user needs and capabilities requires multiple, equally viable, methods of delivery to all users.