Stag GIS

["Ramerman, John" <jramerman@domain.elided>]

To all

I have been working on a Geographic Information System to enable us to 
locate and get details on stags all over the world.  I have entitled it 
"Where in the World are all the Stags".  This is the "demographic" 
subscribers will have seen in other postings.

There is quite a bit of interest in this.  As this is addressed to all and 
as I don't know the level of knowledge of GIS by you I will describe it.  So 
bear with me and I will try and be brief.

Firstly, any information on the GIS will have been provided by the owner. 
 That is, no information will be provided to the internet community without 
the owner's approval and participation.  (participation = you provide the 
info.).

GIS stands for Geographic Information System.  It is a way of seeing things 
spatially rather than looking at a bunch of data.  So hard copy maps etc are 
digitised and made available for viewing digitally.  You then add themes (a 
GIS term) for geographic features, eg a location of a Stag owner.  Attached 
to this feature is attribute data eg name, model, address etc.  The theme is 
added (overlain) to the map.  Thus you have a map of the world and a bunch 
of dots indicating locations of say Stag owners.  This attribute data is 
accessed by clicking on the location.  Other information can be served up 
such as photographs, video etc.  Now, the information can be anything 
therefore Rimmers for instance could be included in a theme of parts & 
service providers.  From the attribute data you could call up their WWW site 
and e_mail.  As you can see, the function of it is only limited to the 
developers' imagination.  I had a pilot up and running, and in hindsight I 
should have made it available to all on the list.  What I will try and do is 
to get the pilot located on a server, post the address so you can have had a 
look at it.

Glenn Merrell and others have recognised the potential and the opportunities 
and has proposed a number of great ideas.  I love the Stolen car & parts 
register.  (Maybe an Insurance company could sponsor this theme to offset 
costs?).

I would like to continue with this project and I envisage that once it is up 
and running for our marque/model, many other clubs would see merit in this 
thing and probably follow suit.  However there are some limiting factors. 
 GIS software is required for this, as is a server.  I do not have the funds 
nor a server at my disposal.   Although funds are required this thing could 
pay for itself because of advertising dollars.  I would probably like to 
retain some form of patent/copyright only for my ego.

It is not a particularly difficult thing to achieve.  Whomever ends up 
hosting this GIS will need to purchase relevant software and I am 
recommending ESRI GIS products.  It is a USA based company, based in 
Redlands California.  I am sure that the software required would be much 
cheaper there than in Australia.  I am recommending ESRI because that is 
what I work with and that is what I know.  Basically you buy ESRI's AVIMS 
(ArcView Internet Map Server).  You install that on the Web server.  The 
client only needs a JAVA capable web browser, which by now everyone should 
have.  The client logs onto the GIS hosting web site, which in turn 
downloads the AVIMS application.  This application loads the base maps etc 
as determined by the developers.  The client can then do a number of things, 
including zooming in to an area of interest, eg California.  They can make 
themes visible and click on locations to view attribute and other digital 
data.

A good example of this functionality is the VISA ATM locator.  Try it out.

I am prepared to keep developing this thing and even project manage it. 
 However input from all would really make this a great thing.  It would be 
easy to do that even from here and upload each version via FTP to the host. 
 The files are fairly small in size and basically consist of some TXT and 
DBF files.  Of course BMP files etc would be added as owners deliver them.

So potential functionality is endless, but it needs a start.  The start is 
someone with a server to the internet and some funds to purchase the AVIMS. 
 For the latter I will speak to the ESRI people here in Adelaide, South 
Australia and see if I can convince ESRI to donate something to the 
"Worldwide Stag Community".  After all if it takes off they will sell lots 
of it to other clubs etc.

Please cc this to anyone you think is interested or/and could help this 
thing get going.

Regards.

John Ramerman.