Summary of Chapter Two - Data Schema and Dictionary
The issues facing standards for data schema and dictionaries have yet to be addressed. Therefore there is no material available for this section of the manual. When addressed, this chapter will contain detailed standards on how a data schema and dictionary should be constructed. It will also provided details on the actual data schema employed in the province's base mapping program.

Summary of Chapter Three - Spatial Reference System
Chapter Three concentrates on standards in the area of spatial referencing. Here you will find information on the standard projection systems and datums used in our base products. There is also a description of the indexing systems employed to reference our wide range of base mapping products. In a number of instances these indexing systems are no longer being applied to new products, however because of their historical significance they continue to be used in older data.

Summary of Chapter Four- Data Quality and Accuracy
Perhaps the chapter of most interest to the avid data user. This chapter provides you with the data quality and accuracy guidelines which are employed in providing you with quality geographic data. In this chapter you will find details on the accuracy and resolution of Nova Scotia's base map series, accuracy guidelines for thematic data producers. You will also find guidelines and standards for quality related to issues such as currency (how to tag data with currency information), lineage (at what levels and how to go about tracking lineage) and completeness (both in terms of spatial and content completeness). In future editions of the manual there will also be standards related to topological structuring of data.

Summary of Chapter Five- Terminology
Chapter Five goes hand in hand with Appendix A. Both provide a glossary of terms and terminology often found in the geomatics community, with Chapter Five being a selective listing of the material found in the appendix. Appendix A also provides a listing of commonly found acronyms in the geomatics industry.

Summary of Chapter Six- Feature Definition and Coding
As with Chapter Five, Chapter Six is linked to an appendix, Appendix B. Chapter Six outlines the framework and processes used to establish new or modifying feature codes in the Province's base mapping program. It also outlines the standards rationale behind the feature codes used in the Province's base mapping and parcel mapping programs. The major feature classes are highlighted and the feature suffixes are defined. For your convenience a complete alphabetic listing of the base and cadastral features and their associated codes is also provided at the end of the chapter.

Summary of Chapter Seven- Linkage
Linkage standards define the methods by which graphic data entities are indexed to attribute databases and are cross-referenced to other databases containing geographic information. This chapter provided a number of database development standards for selected linkage types. Efforts are made to not only define the content of the database linkages (standard codes and names) but also to define the actual naming conventions when implementing the content within a database (i.e. associated field names). Some of the linkage standards presently defined in this chapter are: the parcel identifier; government administrative areas, counties and municipalities.

Summary of Chapter Eight - Data Analysis Tools and Communication
The issues to be covered in this chapter have yet to be addressed by the Standards Program. At this time it is not expected that such a chapter would define specific hardware and software rather it will focus primarily on issues to consider when obtaining data analysis tools such as GIS and Remote Sensing.

Summary of Chapter Nine - Cartography
The issues facing standards for cartography have yet to be addressed. The majority of this chapter will highlight standards for the province's base mapping program. It will also provide guidelines for thematic users highlighting typical cartographic techniques to be employed to enhance presenting an effective message to the user.

Summary of Chapter Ten- Database Directory and Catalogue
Chapter Ten provides the standard specific to the documentation of metadata for digital and hardcopy information. It provides a questionnaire and an accompanying series of definitions for the questionnaire. Over the past several years there have been a number of efforts to collect metadata. This standard has been applied in Nova Scotia now for three years and a resulting catalogue has been developed highlighting geographic data holdings for the province.

Summary of Chapter Eleven - Data Interchange
The issues to be contained in this chapter have yet to be addressed under the Standards Program. There are presently specific data formats which the province uses to distribute data to its clients, however these formats should not be viewed as provincial standards. In the future, this chapter will address the exchange of geographic data between information systems.

Summary of Chapter Twelve - Data Security

The issues planned for this chapter have yet to be addressed by the Standards Program. The standards in this area will one day encompass issues such as information access, updating and distribution techniques as well as procedures to physically secure data in terms of backups.

Summary of Appendix A- Glossary of Terms and Terminology

Appendix A goes hand in hand with Chapter Five. Both provide a glossary of terms and terminology often found in the geomatics community. Appendix A is the extended version of the glossary and includes the provision of a listing of commonly used acronyms within the geomatics industry. A search capability has been added to the Internet version of this appendix.

Summary of Appendix B- Feature Dictionary
Appendix B is a result of applying the contents of Chapter 6. This feature dictionary provides a detailed listing of the over 250 features applied in the base mapping for the Province of Nova Scotia. As part of the dictionary you will find not only the name of the feature and its associated feature code, you will also find a definition of what the feature is, how it is compiled in the base mapping program. In future editions of the manual you will be able to see if the feature type used in Nova Scotia can be equated with features in other feature dictionaries (e.g. Feature attribute Catalogue as part of the DIGEST standard) as well as view diagrams of the topological relationship of each feature to its surrounding features.

Summary of Appendix C- Sources
Appendix C provides a listing of sources used in the preparation of this manual


Standards Manual's Table of Contents