You can find information on accessing the Go-Geo! metadata catalogue remotely.

About Go-Geo! - the project

Go-Geo! is an online resource discovery tool which allows for the identification and retrieval of records describing the content, quality, condition and other characteristics of geospatial data that exist within UK tertiary education and beyond. The portal supports geospatial searching by interactive map, grid co-ordinates and place name, as well as the more traditional topic or keyword forms of searching. The portal is a key component of the UK academic Spatial Data Infrastructure.

Go-Geo! has been a cooperative effort between EDINA National Data Centre, University of Edinburgh, and the UK Data Archive, University of Essex. To date there have been 3 phases in the development of Go-Geo!, all funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) under the JISC Portals Programme. More information on each of these phases can be found on the project web site for phases 1 to 3 at the UK Data Archive.

You can find General background information on Go-Geo!.

Using an ANSI standard, Z39.50-1995, the portal undertakes simultaneous searching across many resources including the national, government funded, GIgateway service and its network of catalogue services. A key feature is the ability for users to find other related resources, such as books, photographs, projects, maps, for their geographic area of interest. These resources are discovered by cross searching the JISC Information Environment and other online information services. The focus of the portal is therefore on where a resource about and less on the what it is about, which is the focus of other JISC portals.

Another important aspect of the portal is the resources section, which provides comprehensive information about geographic information resources. This includes links to information about training courses, learning materials, news, events, organisations, books and journals and software which may be of interest to the user.

The current trial service is operated and maintained by EDINA. If you want further information about the service, please contact us.

Phase 5 Project - March 2007 - February 2008

Objectives for Phase 5 (as outlined in the project proposal) are to:

  • enhance the Go-Geo! portal
  • continue promotion of the importance of metadata for data management and sharing
  • increase the number of JISC services that can be cross-searched from Go-Geo!
  • collection of metadata to provide content for the Go-Geo! portal including geospatial data outwith the UK
  • provision of a gateway to allow users to find and access geospatial portals in other countries
  • to fully explore business models for sustainability
  • continued support of mechanisms to assist long term metadata creation
  • continued technical engagement with geospatial portal developments nationally and internationally.

The project plan for phase 5 is available.

Phase 4a Project - November 2004 - January 2005

JISC have funded a fourth phase of 3 months duration. The aim of the Phase 4a project is to undertake further development of Go-Geo! in order to promote, first, the possibilities of a fully functioning service to potential users and, second, how the metadata contained within it can be exposed through third party services. The key objectives are to:

  • extend the portlet aspect of the service, developed in the phase 3 project
  • expose Go-Geo! as a virtual catalogue within the national, government funded, GIgateway service
  • investigate extending the portal to a GRID portal for GI sciences
  • continue to engage with the various stakeholders regarding their needs and to promote the possibilities of the various aspects of the service through demonstrations at conferences and general awareness raising etc, and
  • continue to develop relationships with relevant initiatives in geospatial searching

The outputs from the project will be:

  • A portlet deployable into subject, media specific, data centre and institutional portals operating within the portlet framework
  • Access to the academic catalogues forming the Geo-data Network through the national GIgateway service
  • A report of the investigation into Go-Geo! becoming a Grid Portal for the UK academic geographic information science community

The project plan for phase 4a is available.

The final project report for phase 4a is available.

A technical document describing the development of the Go-Geo! portlet is available.

Phase 4b Project - February 2005 - November 2006

The Go-Geo! Portal and Geospatial Metadata Development Programme (also known as Go-Geo Phase 4b project), is a 21 month initiative to promote and encourage geospatial metadata creation within UK tertiary education.

The phase 4b project page is available.