Geoportal Server

Yes, Geoportal Server has been available on SourceForge since late October. Licensing, source code, proper credit to 3rd party components, etc are all in place. We migrated most of the Geoportal Extension documentation from the Esri Resource Center to the new Geoportal Server wiki.

Just before Xmas, we added the OpenLS connector for ArcGIS Server to the project! This is an update of an old connector that was available for ArcIMS several years ago. Configure it with ArcGIS Server services and provide an interface following the OGC specification of Open Location Service Implementation Standard. We’re running a test instance that uses some ArcGIS Onlineservices.

So now we’re getting our plans together for 2011. Looking at:

  • Complete wiki documentation
  • GeoSPARQL interface
  • Enhanced metadata editor
  • Sitemap synchronizer
  • WMTS client (JS API, Flex, Silverlight)
  • 0-configuration database support
  • Enhance OpenID/Oauth use
  • ebRIM, Feature Data Dictionary, Feature Catalog support
  • Upgrades to new underlying API (JS, Flex, Silverlight)

Some of these are just ongoing maintenance, ideas we’ve had for a while, or things already in the works (like the enhanced metadata editing). Others (like the GeoSPARQL interface) will take a while to develop and fully use. I’ll put a brief description of these items onthe feature list and would be curious to your responses or other features you would want to see in the Geoportal Server.

Google Maps: Helping you find the right route

With directions in Google Maps, we’re working on helping you find the quickest way to get around, and now finding the right route is a bit easier. For areas with transit information in Google Maps, previously you could compare driving and transit directions by selecting the appropriate icon. Now, when you search for driving directions, transit options may appear directly in the results.

This comes in handy as I visit Madrid and want to find my way from the Hotel Miguel Ángel to the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid. When I search for “Hotel Miguel Ángel, Madrid to Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, Madrid” in Google Maps, I now see the following set of suggestions:

You can see a link to public transit options directly in your driving directions, together with the estimated travel time and number of transfers, for areas where we have transit coverage. This link will appear based on whether public transportation seems like a good alternative for your trip. Similarly, if you’re viewing public transit directions, we may add driving (or taking a taxi) as an alternative.

This feature is currently available in New York, San Francisco, Madrid and Zürich, and we plan to roll this out for more cities in the coming weeks.

Five Universities with great maps

Over the years we’ve shown you a variety of Universities around the world that are making great use of Google Earth and Google Maps, including 3D models at Bowling Green and Boston University, a 3D virtual campus at Northeastern, and a variety of great tools at the University of Exeter. The Google Geo Developers Blog recently took at five Universities that are making great use of geo tools, and it’s a great list.

Many of the schools they show are simply using 2D maps, but they do a great job with them, such as the University of Washington, shown here:

washington.jpg

The five featured schools are Northeastern University, the University of Washington, the University of Ottawa, the University of California – San Diego and the University of Notre Dame. Check out the full blog post for more info.

If you’re a college student, how does your school stack up?