To:
Maine All GIS Users:
In
the past few months the GeoLibrary Board and its consultant, the James W.
Sewall Company has been busy working on both an updated strategic plan and a
conceptual design for an integrated land records information system. We
thought that this might be a good opportunity to bring all of you up to date on
what has been happening.
As
we are moving through this project, we want to keep all of you informed on its
progress and we want to make as much of the material as possible available
on-line through our website at: http://maine.gov/geolib/ for your review and comment. We
recognize that this project can only be ultimately successful if we meet the
needs of the users in Maine and we know that we can only achieve that through
your involvement and cooperation. We thank all of you who have
invested time and effort in this project.
For
those who haven’t had that opportunity yet, we encourage you all to take
part and help us shape GIS in Maine on behalf of the entire state. Please
consider joining the GeoLibrary List Serve at: http://lists.maine.edu/cgi/wa?SUBED1=geolibrary-l&A=1 and joining our
stakeholder list at: http://megis.maine.gov/stakeholder/stakeholder.asp. Also, please
feel free to provide input through the project blog (http://maineplan.blogspot.com/).
As
you many of you know, a number of things have been completed on the
project. The first part of the project involved providing the geospatial
community with information on the purpose of the project and gathering input on
user needs from as many in that community as possible. The project
started out with Forums being held in Auburn, Bangor, Augusta and South
Portland. These Forums were attended by 130 individuals. Reports on
the Forums are available at: http://maine.gov/geolib/projects/fiftystates/forums.htm. While the Forums
were underway, an on-line survey was conducted to provide broader base input
for the community. We were delighted that 245 individuals from across the
state responded the survey. A report on the survey can be viewed at: http://maine.gov/geolib/projects/fiftystates/GeoLibraryStratPlanSurveyReport062408.pdf. In addition
to the both of these a number of meetings were held with key
stakeholders.
A
summary of gaps in statewide GIS coordination identified by stakeholders is
available at: http://maine.gov/geolib/projects/fiftystates/Stakeholder%20Identified%20Gaps%208-18-08.pdf.
Subsequent
to the initial phase, a review of the status of initiatives outlined in the
Board’s 2002 Strategic Plan was undertaken. That is summarized in a
document entitled: “Maine 2002 Strategic Plan Five Pillar
Update.” It is available on line at: http://maine.gov/geolib/projects/fiftystates/Maine%202002%20Strategic%20Plan%20Five%20Pillar%20Update%208-18-08.pdf. Also
available on line is a summary of the GeoLibrary Board’s 2007 funding
priorities: http://maine.gov/geolib/projects/fiftystates/2007%20Annual%20Report%20Funding%20Priorities%208-18-08.pdf.
In
addition, to the above, the Sewall Team has provided us with a document
entitled, “Overall Maine GeoSpatial Listing of Issues and Action
Items.” This summarizes issues and action items noted in all of the
above documents and provides recommended solutions, time frames and
priorities. That document is attached. Over the next few
weeks, the Board will be reviewing it and providing comments on it. We
are also interested in your thoughts and invite you to submit them by
September 12 by e-mailing [log in to unmask]. Please title your email, “ME
Strategic Plan Input.”
On
September 26, 2008 between 4 p.m. - 5 p.m., Rich Sutton of the Sewall Team will
be making a presentation on the project to the Maine GIS User Group annual
conference in Presque Isle providing a full update on the work on project which
will key in on the project’s progress in designing an
Integrated Land Records Information System. We invite you all to attend
by registering at: http://www.megug.org/. On September 27, 2008,
Rich will be making another presentation in Presque Isle to the 2008 Convention of
Maine Counties. We encourage you to urge your county representative
to attend to learn how an Integrated Land Records Information System could
provide a positive impact for your County Government. In the meantime, if
you have any comments on the Integrated Land Records Information System,
please contact Richard Sutton at: [log in to unmask].
In
closing, we’d like to thank all of you for your comments and assistance
in helping us make this important project a success.
Bill
Hanson, Chair ,
Maine
Geo Library Board
William H. Hanson, Esq.
RUDMAN & WINCHELL
84 Harlow Street - P.O. Box
1401
Bangor, ME
04402-1401
Tel. 207-947-4501/Fax
207-941-9715
Direct Dial:
207-992-4401
E-mail:
[log in to unmask]
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