Athens County
Cooperative Land Administration
and Information Mapping system
August 31, 2000
Athens County Commissioners
15 South Court Street, 2nd Floor
Athens, Ohio 45701
RE: Monthly GIS Progress Report
Commissioners:
In our April Progress Report I listed GIS Success Factors quoted in the
URISA Journal. My application of the remaining four Success Factors to
our GIS is included as an extra page to this report.
Our ILGARD parcel data line work conversion is progressing. We have four
townships completed, four townships nearing completion, three townships
started, and three townships yet to start. We anticipate placing four to
six townships of parcel data on new ArcIMS software and new web server by
the end of the year. Our goal is to complete the parcel data conversion
and bring the backlog of splits up to date during 2001.
ESRI is combining ArcView and ArcInfo software into a three-tiered scalable
structure. The new concept is called ArcGIS. The Desktop GIS clients
available are ArcView GIS, ArcInfo Editor, and ArcInfo Professional:
ArcView GIS includes all previous ArcView functionally, plus ArcCatalog,
ArcMap, and ArcToolbox Lite applications.
ArcInfo Editor is primarily designed for geodatabase creation and editing.
It includes all the capabilities of ArcView GIS, and complete versions of
ArcMap and ArcCatalog. With ArcInfo Editor you can create and update
databases for shapefiles, coverages, and geodatabases, and perform
complete mapping and data queries.
ArcInfo Professional is the most functionally rich product in the ArcGIS
family. It includes all the capabilities of ArcView GIS and ArcInfo
Editor, plus a complete ArcToolbox application and a full version of
ArcInfo Workstation (ARC, ARCEDIT, ARCP LOT, AML and all extensions).
ArcInfo Professional is the complete GIS data creation, updata, query,
mapping, and analysis system.
ArcView GIS is available as stand-alone and network seats. ArcInfo Editor
and ArcInfo Professional are available as network seats only. ArcIMS adds
Internet services to the ArcGIS system. A very significant new capability
is that all ArcGIS desktop clients can now dynamically stream raster and
vector data across the Web from an ArcIMS server. These new layer types
behave exactly like all other layers once they have been brought across the
network; that is, they can be symbolized, mapped, queried, edited, and
analyzed just like local data. They can also be saved in local formats
for later use.
Our Architect is progressing with the preliminary design for our GIS
addition to the County Engineer's present facility. I anticipate meeting
with the Commissioners next month to discuss the design and funding.
Our GIS show is scheduled for September 20th at the O.U. Inn Ballroom.
Our next GIS Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for November 16, 2000
at 10:00 a.m. in the Facilities Management conference room. We shall forgo
a September Steering Committee meeting in lieu of our September 20th GIS
show. Our September GIS Show Planning Sub-Committee will meet for a dress
rehearsal on September 14th at 10:00 a.m. at ILGARD.
I will attend an ESRI class in Columbus next month. This two-day course
introduces a strategy to design, develop, and implement an enterprise GIS.
I plan to attend portions of the Annual Ohio CEAO GIS Conference to be held
the last week of September.
Thank you for allowing me to coordinate this important aspect of Athens
County's future, and for your usual cooperation.
Archie Stanley, GIS Coordinator
555 East State Street - Athens, Ohio 45701
Phone (740) 593-5514 - Fax (740) 592-4616
E-mail: astanley@frognet.net
================================
The following factors for successful GIS implementation were documented
in the URISA Journal, Volume 12, Number 1, Winter, 2000, and reported
here last month.
"Overall, researchers have concluded that successful implementation of a
GIS in local government is dependent on a number of well-documented
factors. They include:
* Evaluation of user needs;
* Long-term upper management commitment to the project;
* Sufficient allocation of resources;
* Adequate staffing;
* Timely and sufficient training;
* Someone, called a "GIS champion," who will shepherd the project
from acquision to use; and
* Organizational communication or diffusion to smooth the
transition to full utilization"
These factors, noted by leading experts, will be continually reviewed
and applied to our GIS project. I have applied the remaining four factors
to our GIS project development as an evaluation and report on our efforts
to date:
Adequate GIS staffing is yet to be determined, but the Commissioners
have indicated their intention to fund a core GIS operations budget
beginning in 2001. Meanwhile, several departments have made personnel,
hardware, software, and data additions to their GIS operations.
Timely and sufficient GIS training has been implemented periodically as
determined necessary. On site training has been offered to GIS users by
ILGARD, and ESRI training has been obtained at regional ESRI facilities as
well as in Athens. Additional training is anticipated from both ILGARD
and ESRI, as well as from the core GIS staff once it is in place.
Leadership, from a variety of sources, plays a significant role in the
development of community systems. Athens County is fortunate to have
several "GIS champions," who have a shared understanding and vision for
our GIS; The County Commissioners, Auditor, Planner, Health Department,
E-911, and Engineer; Ohio University Administrators, ILGARD, Facilities
Management, and Facilities Planning; the City of Athens; Red Cross; and the
local office of Soil and Water Conservation. Under the leadership of these
GIS champions, dedicated teams are advancing successful organization-wide
GIS implementation through synergistic and shared individual applications.
Organizational communication or diffusion to smooth the transition to
full utilization is taking place through our GIS Steering Committee,
periodic training sessions, pilot projects, Internet web site, widely
circulated monthly GIS progress reports, a published GIS newspaper insert,
and an annual GIS Show. Also a local area network is being planned that
will link all GIS users.