Technical Information

Tutorials and PowerPoint Presentations
• Presentation for Partners
• The National Map System Overview
• Tutorial Introduction to The National Map Catalog (10/04)

Database Entity Relationship Diagrams
• Database Version 3 Schema The core of the catalog database, with tables that contain partner, service, and layer information.
• Styled Layer Descriptor (SLD) Schema Attribute-to-symbol mappings that allow symbols to be applied at application run time.
• Project and Partner Schema Point-of-contact information for partners, the definitions of projects, the roles of partners in projects, and the relationships of partners to each other.

Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Documents and Specifications
• OGC Adopted Document Baseline (list of links)
• Web Map Service Specification
• Web Feature Service Specification
• Styled Layer Descriptor Specification
• OGC Web Services Stateless Catalog Profile

Technical Discussion Papers
• Registering Web Map Services in The National Map Catalog, v0.9.1 (3/05)
• Geographic Footprints in the Catalog (11/04)
• Footprint polygons and attributes (Winzip Shapefile 5/05)
• Viewscales and Their Effect on Data Display (12/03)
• Availability of The National Map Web Map Services I (9/03)
• Availability of The National Map Web Map Services II (2/04)
• Availability and Growth of The National Map in Fiscal Year 2004 (12/04)
• Availability and Growth of The National Map in Fiscal Year 2005 (11/05)
• Quality Assurance of Cartographic Data in Catalog Operations (4/04)
• The University of Minnesota's MapServer and Other Open Source Software in The National Map (1/05)
• Introduction to Styled Layer Descriptors (1/05)

Simple Ways to View Data from the Catalog Database
• Querying The National Map Catalog

Information for Web Programmers
• Catalog Web Application Check
• The National Map Catalog Service: A Guide for Application Developers (3/05)
• Catalog Service Code Samples
• Archive of old code samples and documents

Support

• For any type of technical assistance or Catalog-related question, contact the USGS Catalog Support Team at usgscatalog@usgs.gov.

Metadata Resources

• USGS policy for The National Map Metadata
• Federal Geographic Data Committee Metadata Page