Organizational needs for managing and preserving geospatial data and related electronic records

Government agencies and other organizations are required to manage and preserve records that they create and use to facilitate future access and reuse. The increasing use of geospatial data and related electronic records presents new challenges for these organizations, which have relied on traditional practices for managing and preserving records in printed form. This article reports on an investigation of current and future needs for managing and preserving geospatial electronic records on the part of localand state-level organizations in the New York City metropolitan region. It introduces the study and describes organizational needs observed, including needs for organizational coordination and interorganizational cooperation throughout the entire data lifecycle.