3. Your Profile
Welcome to the Ramona GIS Inventory
Ramona is produced by the National States' Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) as a tool for states and their partners. Its primary purpose is to track the status of GIS in US state and local government to aid the planning and building of Spatial Data Infrastructures.
How the GIS Inventory is Organized
The Ramona GIS Inventory is divided into sections under "My Profile." They include:
* User Profile
* Organizational Profile
* Systems Profile
* Policies Profile
* My Geography
* Framework Data Profile
* Other Data Profile
* State Questions (If Required)
* Metadata
Please complete all relevant information in tabs 1-5, because it is critical to the report and metadata functions of the system. In addition, please provide answers to all questions in tab 8 (State Questions) if it appears, because this information is needed to improve statewide coordination efforts in your state.
You will only see the "State Questions" tab under "My Profile" when the administrator for your state adds specific questions that they need users to answer. These questions are important for statewide GIS coordination efforts and we encourage you to complete them.
User Profile
When you login, you will see the User Profile section. The information you entered when you created your account is listed in this section. You can change/update this information at any time.
Users estimate that it takes between 10 and 25 minutes to fully complete the first five sections of the inventory. After completing these sections you will be able to inventory each of your individual data layers at any time in the future using the "Framework Data Profile" or "Other Data Profile" sections. Users estimate that it takes between 30 seconds and two minutes to inventory each individual data layer. You should only inventory data that you or your organization has created or substantially modified, either directly or through contractual services. You should not document data produced by other entities that you use in your operation.
BEST PRACTICE: NSGIC recommends users review and update their Ramona profile at least once per year.
Registering to State Ramona Systems / Changing E-mail
1. At the bottom of your User Profile, you will select the state(s) in which you live and/or work. This information is used to "assign" you to your state's version of Ramona. This helps keep information manageable for statewide GIS coordination and communities of practice.
2. You can update your email address from the User Profile. Remember your email address is your user name when you login to Ramona.
Organization Profile (and what happens if you leave your job)
Organization information is important for statewide geospatial planning. It is also used when searching the Ramona directory. List your organization's web site and all application areas relevant to your organization.
The remainder of the Ramona profile deals primarily with your organization's systems, policies, and data.
BEST PRACTICE: If you leave your job we ask that you notify your statewide GIS coordinator or the Ramona system administrator (info@gisinventory.net). We can reassign your organization information to a new/temporary person and help you create a new account.
Systems Profile
The Systems Profile is where you document important information regarding software, online mapping applications, and the projection/coordinate information of your data.
This information is important for documenting your data and for the automatic generation of starter metadata (for users who do not already create metadata).
Policies
Your organization's policies communicate under what circumstances you make your data available. Your policies have an important influence on the development of spatial data infrastructures.
My Geography (1)
Your geography is required information for the Ramona status maps and starter metadata. Please select the geographic area(s) that best represent the geographic extent for your GIS data.
Although you set your default geography here, you can always modify your geography on a layer-by-layer basis when you inventory individual data sets.
This is a two step section if your data are not nationwide or statewide.
My Geography (2)
You can select single or multiple counties/parishes, cities/towns/villages, and tribal lands. DO NOT hold down the CTRL key or Command key to select multiple jurisdictions. Simply click to activate your choices and click a second time to remove them.
Note that if you select a county(s)/parish(s), you do not need to select cities/towns/villages within that county/parish. It is assumed your data cover these areas - if they do not you can note it in the optional free-text description when you inventory individual data sets (see next step).
BEST PRACTICE: If your data cover a watershed or other irregular (non-political) boundary, select the state(s), counties(s), etc. that most closely represent the extent of your data.
Inventorying Data
Ramona inventories all layers with five basic questions:
1. Progress
2. Source
3. Scale
4. Production Date
5. Update Frequency
There is an optional free-text layer description if you want to provide more information about your data set.
For most fields you select a response from a drop-down list (select the answer that most closely represents your data).
Framework Data
Framework data are the data most needed, most of the time, by the most users. Ramona features these since they are so important for planning spatial data infrastructures.
Users estimate that it takes between 30 seconds and two minutes to inventory each individual data layer. You should only inventory data that you or your organization has created or substantially modified, either directly or through contractual services. You should not document data produced by other entities that you use in your operation.
1. Select a data category.
2. Complete the inventory questions.
3. For framework data only, some data sets have additional questions that are vital for planning purposes.
4. If you have more than one data set for the layer listed, you can click the "+" sign to duplicate the layer in the inventory.
Optional Geography
In the My Geography section above, you selected a geographic extent for the GIS data that are inventoried by Ramona. That is your default geography used for all layers you inventory. If you have a different geographic extent for a data layer, you can now edit the default geographic extent.
The optional Geography section shown here will indicate the geographic extent is being used for each layer (either your default geography, or a changed geography that you have defined - see next step).
Changing Geography
When you click "edit geography" you will be presented a screen verifying that you are choosing a specific geography for your layer of interest.
1. When you create a new geography, enter an alias name to refer to this geography. Ramona will save the new geography in case you want to use it again for other data layers that you inventory. Follow the directions from My Geography to set the goegraphic extent. You can create multiple new geographies.
2. If you have already created a new geography, you can re-use it by selecting its alias name from the drop-down list and clicking "add to layer."
3. You can edit a saved geography by selecting its alias name from the drop-down list and clicking edit geography.
4. You can delete a saved geography by selecting its alias name from the drop-down list and clicking delete geography.
Starter Metadata
Approximately 75% of GIS users don't create metadata to document their GIS data holdings! Ramona automatically generates standards-compliant starter metadata.
1. If you don't already produce and publish metadata, Ramona can publish a starter metadata record to the Geospatial One-Stop portal (this is checked by default). You can download your starter metadata and use it with your data as nature intended.
2. If you already produce full Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) metadata, you can provide a web link (BASE_URL) to the complete metadata record. Do not enter information on this line if the BASE_URL routinely changes, unless you are committed to keeping it up-to-date.
Other Data
Continue to inventory your other data layers in the "Other Data" section.
1. Select a category and layer name most closely describing your data.
2. For a complete listing of data layers in Ramona, you can download the complete layer list (it is a searchable .pdf file).
3. The standard five questions and optional free-text description are listed for every data layer.
State Specific Questions
You will only see the "State Questions" tab under "My Profile" when the administrator for your state adds specific questions that they need users to answer. These questions are important for statewide GIS coordination efforts and we encourage you to complete them.
Reports
You can use Ramona reports to share information on your systems, policies, and data.
After you have completed your Profile, you can view and download a report of your responses. Keep a copy of your report as a permanent record and use it as a quick way to reference information contained in your profile.
