Geospatial Data Collection Policies, Technology and Open Source in Websites of Academic Libraries Worldwide

The proliferation of geospatial data demands the engagement of information organizations, such as academic libraries, for their management and diffusion.The purpose of this paper is to reveal issues related to the development of geospatial collections and explore their efficient use as required by the current information environment. Thus, a research conducted on 363 websites of academic libraries worldwide and 136 websites maintaining geospatial collections were identified. The research questions were formed based on international bibliography and we applied a content analysis method for data extraction. Findings show a significant activity of academic libraries in providing GIS services in accordance with high rates in user education programs, creating the use of geospatial collection and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services more effective. Nevertheless, through their websites we obtained poor response to communicate geospatial collections policies. The majority of the academic libraries surveyed in this study provide commercial software to their users for managing data on a local level, while the minority of library patrons are able to use geospatial data via remote access. This paper explores aspects of development in geospatial collections in academic libraries that have not been adequately raised. Additionally, we provide an overview of geospatial collections worldwide.