“Ways of structuring data within a digital cartographic data base” by Edson and Lee

The National Mapping Program includes the activities for providing basic map data and a family of general-purpose maps. The U.S. Geological Survey is developing a Digital Cartographic Data Base (DCDB) within the National Mapping Program to include such features and reference systems as the public land survey network, State and county boundaries, transportation systems, and hydrography. Although the public land survey network is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, it is included as a DCDB component because of its relationship to almost all cultural development beyond the thirteen original States. Such data included in DCDB have no legal status and are intended for display and map reference only. The interrelationship of these categories, particularly of the first three, requires care in structuring the digitized data so that valuable time is not wasted in producing cartographic spaghetti. This paper presents some ideas about structuring the components of DCDB.

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