Research on Geoportals

Pepijn van Oort,  a researcher at the Centre for Geo-Information, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, is conducting a survey on geoportals as part of a research project.  An invitation is extended to all geoportal managers who maintain a portal either to the public or internally to participate in this survey.  Detailed information about the research project is hosted on the Centre’s Research Geoportals and Internet Marketing site:

In our survey we use the following definition of a geoportal

• the medium is internet or intranet
• the portal describes many geo-products
• the portal gives insight into an array of available geoproducts, often by providing a searchable catalogue

Narrowly defined geoportals are only about geo-data. More broadly defined, as in our survey, a geoportal describes geo-products. A geo-product is any product with a strong geographical dimension. This includes geo-data, software, hardware, models, books, courses, consultancy and news.

If you are a geoportal site manager, you are invited to take the survey.