SBR-9506485 This dissertation-improvement award supports a study into the ways that government scientific-and-technical-information policies affect the dissemination of databases containing spatial data, specifically, transfer and use of the data generated by national mapping agencies to the research community and the commercial information industry. The study will take the form of parallel case studies, with information collected via postal surveys, in-person interviews, and archival research. Spatial-data suppliers and users in Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States will be investigated, to allow for international comparisons. The results of the research will be of interest to the government, research, and commercial communities of the countries studied, as they grapple with substantial international differences in spatial data policy.
