In 1993 NJDEP's Office of Science and Research contacted Monmouth County to investigate the interest of developing a GIS program for public use in the County Library System. Monmouth County was very interested and committed to purchasing the necessary hardware and identifying the personnel for training. DEP began the development of a user friendly GIS project using existing DEP and Monmouth County Health Dept. data on the ArcView Version 1 platform. The software was graciously donated by Esri, which brought all the necessary components together. The unveiling of the GIS project came in December of 1994, with the loading of the program in the Eastern Branch of the Monmouth County Library System in Shrewsbury, NJ. Immediately the public began to use the system. They found a variety of information that they could not have easily accessed before, such as information on schools, parks and there relationship to their neighborhoods. Land Use, floodprone areas, wetlands, and soil data were combined to locate environmentally sensitive information. The system also included extensive textual information (e.g. on obtaining NJDEP permits, NJDEP grants and loans, definitions and explanations of toxic and hazardous material data, etc.). The public began to look at their county in a totally different way. At the same time problems in the system were identified and the second phase of the project began. In phase two a GIS consultant (Susanne Strater) joined the team of State and County participants. The goal of this phase of the project was to provide the environmentally-interested public with an even easier-to-use system to access information about the environment and other aspects in Monmouth County. By revising the user interface, using the advance capabilities of ArcView Version 2 software, distributing the system into additional branches of the library, and publicizing the system, we hope to encourage more widespread use of the system among the general public.
Since its inception in 1986, the Louisville and Jefferson County Information Consortium (LOJIC) has grown to include over 100 digital map layers and attribute databases across numerous local ArcInfo libraries. The LOJIC GIS is currently accessible to over 150 users across more than a dozen local agencies. A number of custom applications have also been developed to provide users with standard tools for performing ad hoc queries and generating various cartographic products. The rapid increases in LOJIC databases, coupled with an expanding user base, have resulted in an overwhelming need for comprehensive, yet user-friendly, local metadata. LOJIC has developed a system of on-line metadata that includes data dictionaries, sample views, and application documentation, all of which are locally accessible via the LOJIC system network. The LOJIC metadata (LOJICDOC), designed as an addition to the ArcInfo ArcDoc user documentation, represents a local effort at building GIS metadata. LOJIC metadata incorporates key components from the FGDC Content Standards for Spatial Metadata and meets local user needs for concise, standardized documentation. This paper presents the LOJIC approach for the design, implementation, and maintenance of local GIS metadata.