University of Minnesota (UMN) Map Server

Abstract

SynonymsMapServ; UMN MapServer; WebGISDefinitionRecent efforts on exploiting the Web to disseminate geographic information to the general public using the Internet has resulted in a new breed of specialized geographic information systems, generally called WebGISes or mapservers. A mapserver can broadly be defined as a software platform for dynamically generating spatially referenced (digital) map products from geo-spatial data. It is an integrated tool for building and serving WebGIS applications. The University of Minnesota MapServer or UMN-MapServer, or simply MapServer, is one such system. It was originally developed as part of a research project at the University of Minnesota. Although it is still supported and distributed through the University of Minnesota, it has evolved into an international Open Source project, utilizing Open Source GIS libraries developed by experts from around the world. MapServer is not only an immensely popular Open source devel ...