Open resources on geographic information for research and scientific documentation

Abstract

Many scientific disciplines make use, in a high percentage of cases, of information which could be georeferenced. Researchers need cartographic information to show, not only locations, but also the spatial relation between them. The availability of cartographic resources online is substantial, but their dispersion and, in some cases, the lack of documentation, is an important issue. The appearance of Virtual Globes, the development of free applications, the policies of public diffusion of geographical data, the open software and open data trends and the initiatives of voluntary geographical information contribute to increase the available data in the geo-information sphere. The aim of this work is to provide information about a series of free web cartographic resources available for research and scientific documentation. The large amount of available cartographic resources nowadays is due, not only to the technological development, but also to a change of the set of mind in their producer entities, thereby enriching the amount of scientific documentation available for research purposes.