791"Web GIS" versus "GeoWeb"

2008-08-08T16:19:56Z

Adena Schutzberg:

Web mapping was not mentioned; Web GIS was, quite a bit. GeoWeb? Not that I recall.

I like the proposition of "Web GIS": applying geographic information system technology and geographic information science to the universal information space -- the mature space of documents and the emerging space of data -- that we call "the Web". GIS for the Web is something that you can actually design and implement (ESRI and I part ways where the rubber meets the road). "Web GIS" is marketing, yes, but at least it's supported by solid concepts.

The "GeoWeb" proposition repels me. Asserting an existence of a "GeoWeb" distinct from the Web seems like self-imposed ghettoization. Maybe it's a matter of taste, but I'd find discussion of MusicWebs, VideoWebs, and BookWebs equally unproductive.

Comments

1Re: "Web GIS" versus "GeoWeb"

James Fee, 2008-08-08T17:03:54Z
I think you've gotten very down in the weeds here worried about Web GIS vs GeoWeb. Curious though Sean, who is saying the GeoWeb is separate from the web (or the series of tubes)?

2Re: "Web GIS" versus "GeoWeb"

Sean, 2008-08-08T17:48:35Z
I wrote "distinct", not "separate". I'm looking for the distinction being made with the term "GeoWeb". What's going on that isn't simply "Web"?

3Re: "Web GIS" versus "GeoWeb"

James Fee, 2008-08-08T17:57:20Z
Fair enough, I'm not sure the consensus is that are distinct either. Or are you just having trouble with the marketing of the term as opposed to the use of Web GIS?

4Re: "Web GIS" versus "GeoWeb"

Matt Giger, 2008-08-08T18:04:07Z
Usually I don't care what marketing term a company is using, but GeoWeb is being used to categorize an entire field of computer science as a novelty. 'Web' should not be even referenced since within the next few years the lines between online and offline GIS will be mostly invisible.

5Re: "Web GIS" versus "GeoWeb"

Andrew Turner, 2008-08-13T14:58:01Z
WebGIS and GeoWeb are obviously different things as you pointed out. WebGIS are the tools and technology (Slippy Maps, API's, hosting) versus the interlinked, especially geospatially linked documents. By Geospatially linked I mean features that use externally referenced geometries, for example WOEID's or Geonames, that then imply correlation based on location. While there isn't "MusicWeb", there is SocialWeb. It's not NounWeb, but 'Adjective'Web. This is similar to GeoRSS (and agree that it's confusing) where it 's not a separate interface, but instead the necessary push for extensions that just add geographic data to broader information.

6Re: "Web GIS" versus "GeoWeb"

Sean, 2008-08-13T15:32:19Z
Yes, Andrew, we've been working together on geographical link relations in the context of Atom and I think that's getting close to something we could call a "GeoWeb", but that's not at all what most people (and all business people) mean when they refer to the "GeoWeb" (I know because there are just a handful of us in the link discussions).

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