Abstract
The role of geology in ensuring environmental protection, sustainable resources and a safer environment is not widely understood. Not many people outside the geological profession can understand a conventional geological map and can comprehend what that map has to say about risks and resources; the fact that geological maps also reveal what is happening at depth—the third dimension—is appreciated by even fewer people. The information technology (IT) revolution has provided sophisticated new hardware and software—database, geographical information system (GIS) and three-dimensional (3-D) modelling packages—so that we no longer have to be restricted to producing one complex and highly scientific document as the result of our survey and research work. In the new IT datasets, however, products and services need special attribution and quality control. Providing full national cover with novel products and services, digitising legacy and map data causes many problems with ensuring consistency and thus the need to agree and work to standards. And, there arise problems of liability, intellectual property rights and charging policy when digital products become more widely available.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Natural Environmental Research Council
About this paper
Cite this paper
Jackson, I. (2005). Addressing the Real Needs of All the Users of Geological Information: The Opportunities, Issues and Problems. In: Ostaficzuk, S.R. (eds) The Current Role of Geological Mapping in Geosciences. NATO Science Series, vol 56. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3551-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3551-9_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3549-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3551-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)