Preservation of state and local government digital geospatial data: The North Carolina geospatial data archiving project

The North Carolina Geospatial Data Archiving Project (NCGDAP) is a three-year joint effort of the North Carolina State University Libraries and the North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis focused on collection and preservation of digital geospatial data resources from state and local government agencies. NCGDAP is being undertaken in partnership with the Library of Congress under the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). "Digital geospatial data" consists of digital information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on the earth. Such data resources include geographic information systems (GIS) data sets, digitized maps, remote sensing data resources such as digital aerial photography, and tabular data that are tied to specific locations. State and local data resources, which are in general of greater detail and more current than data available from federal agencies, are generally not addressed by data archiving efforts at the federal level.