The GEOname Digital Gazetteer from GDE Systems, Inc., is the first worldwide compendium of geographic feature names with names in the Romanized form of the local official national language. The data source is the Defense Mapping Agency's Geographic Names Database and includes all countries except the United States and U.S.-administered territories. The database is on a single CD for IBM-compatible computers running MS Windows.
GEOname feature data contains the local national name transliterated to the Romanized form of the national language and an English language conventional name, if any. Name variants from minority languages, name changes, or former spellings are included for some features. Feature information includes the type (one of 500 classifications), geographic coordinates, country / province (if any) of origin, and UTM coordinates.
A flexible interface allows querying using one or more of a coordinate bounding rectangle, country, feature type, or name. Results display in a text processor, or may be exported in user-defined text-delimited file format. The flexible export format allows the data to be used in many spreadsheets, word processors, or geographic information system databases such as ArcView 2.
GEOname data is imported into ArcView as a text table. A theme and shape file can then be created to display features as points over a map background, such as Digital Chart of the World (DCW). Names can then be attached to each point as a label.
This presentation will review the GEOname data and how it is derived. The GEOname interface, results display, and data export process will then be demonstrated. The exported data will be displayed within ArcView 2 over a DCW background and feature points will be labeled with the name as exported from GEOname.
Edward M. Taylor
GDE Systems, Inc.
Geographic Information Dept. (MZ 6100-J)
P.O. Box 509008
San Diego, CA. 92150-9008
Telephone: 619-592-5870
Fax: 619-592-5320
Email: taylor@GDEsystems.com