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Lewis, Benjamin

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Lewis

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Benjamin

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Lewis, Benjamin
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.cffb7692-3a93-4e4c-a728-b01dad0a6aa2

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    Jump-starting the next level of online geospatial collaboration
    (2011) Lewis, Benjamin; Guan, Wendy
    This article discusses an opportunity to engage in new forms of collaborative research made possible by widespread access to the web and mapping technologies. While throughout history there have been references of various types to locations on the earth, very little has been organized in a way to support even simple spatial search or visualization on maps, let alone collaboration. Factors which hinder such geospatial collaboration will be suggested along with thoughts for moving forward. AfricaMap, a public online mapping project under development at Harvard, will be explored for ideas and lessons. Finally, a series of new tools is envisioned to push online collaboration to a more productive state of practice for researchers in all disciplines.
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    Understanding Today's Online GIS User Through the Lens of a WorldMap Survey
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) Guan, Wendy; Poplin, Alenka; Lewis, Benjamin
    WorldMap is an open source online mapping application which aims to lower barriers for scholars who wish to visualize, analyze, organize, present, and publish mapped information. In late 2013, 290 respondents among the 8,000 registered users participated in an online survey in which they described their activities, purposes, experiences, and preferences regarding the system. Participants also described their professional background, GIS skill level, age, gender, and country of work. This study analyzes the results of the survey, by summarizing the responses to each question independently and by examining the relationships and dependencies of these answers across the different questions to try to better understand why users responded the way they did. The study is based on the user-centered design (UCD) approach. We aim to use the survey results to improve our understanding of user demographics and needs. Findings from this study will be used to guide WorldMap improvements, and we hope the findings will also shed light on the broader requirements of online GIS users.
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    WorldMap – A Geospatial Framework for Collaborative Research
    (Informa UK (Taylor & Francis), 2012) Guan, Wendy; Bol, Peter; Lewis, Benjamin; Bertrand, Matthew R; Berman, Merrick; Blossom, Jeffrey
    WorldMap is a web-based, map-centric data exploration system built on open-source geospatial technology at Harvard University. It is designed to serve collaborative research and teaching, but is also accessible to the general public. This article explains WorldMap's basic functions through several historical research projects, demonstrating its flexible scale (from neighborhood to continent) and diverse research themes (social, political, economic, cultural, infrastructural, etc.). Also shared in this article are our experiences in handling technical and institutional challenges during system development, such as synchronization of software components being developed by multiple organizations; juggling competing priorities for serving individual requests and developing a system that will enable users to support themselves; balancing promotion of the system usage with constraints on infrastructure investment; harnessing volunteered geographic information while managing data quality; as well as protecting copyrights, preserving permanent links and citations, and providing long-term archiving.