Thanks for all of the responses. After some careful consideration of the responses I received I realize the challenges of trying to get real world features into the type of hierarchy I derive.
I'm going to check out the system Geonames is using with RDFa. I think I might be able to use their technique for uniquely identifying places. Thank you again for your help. Landon Office Phone Number: (209) 946-0268 Cell Phone Number: (209) 992-0658 -----Original Message----- From: discuss-boun...@lists.osgeo.org [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Allan Doyle Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 7:40 AM To: OSGeo Discussions Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] RE: Representing Places With Intelligent URLs On Oct 5, 2010, at 9:58 PM, Bob Basques wrote: > All, > > I'm a long time address database creation/maintenance/re-creation fiend myself. > > I've also been working with the USNG (MGRS) gridding system the last few years, and need to at least suggest the idea of > using a Gridding system to locate things. This idea is not nbew, but USNG usage has gained quite a bit of ground the > last couple of years across all level of government, with a large emphasis placed on using it for disaster response. > > Tying a placeName to a grid location that can describe things down to the centimeter if needed and still stay unique as > a location is a very good thing. Don't be too sure at the centimeter level. "The average rate of motion across the San Andreas Fault Zone during the past 3 million years is 56 mm/yr (2 in/yr). " -- http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/facts.php I like Chris Schmidt's quote: "The world is fuzzier than you realize". Allan > > bobb > > > > On 10/5/2010 8:52 PM, Landon Blake wrote: >> The geonames ontology looks like it might work for me. I'll read it over tomorrow. >> >> Thanks for the suggestion. >> >> Landon >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Oct 5, 2010, at 5:45 PM, "Ian Turton"<ijtur...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 8:39 PM, Christopher Schmidt >>> <crschm...@crschmidt.net> wrote: >>>> On Tue, Oct 05, 2010 at 05:18:47PM -0700, Paul Ramsey wrote: >>>>> "All attempts to construct simple ontologies end up reinventing RDF" . ? >>>> That was actually my first thought when I saw this: "Hey look, >>>> someone else reinventing RDFa!" :) >>>> >>>> Seriously, I say this with a bit of knowledge; I mean, after all, >>>> I sort of work on making places searchable on maps. For a company >>>> with a pretty big set of data about the hierarchy of the world. >>>> It's a lot fuzzier than you think :) >>>> >>>> Also, Landon, I do highly recommend looking into RDF -- specifically, >>>> RDFa -- because I think it's heading in a very similar direction to >>>> what you're describing, without the need for some all-world-hierarchy >>>> to tie it to, which might actually help you get a bit further. >>> >>> You might want to look at http://www.geonames.org/ontology/ which RDFs >>> the GeoNames database. >>> >>> Ian >>> -- >>> Ian Turton >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Discuss mailing list >>> Discuss@lists.osgeo.org >>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss >> >> Warning: >> Information provided via electronic media is not guaranteed against defects including translation and transmission errors. If the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this information in error, please notify the sender immediately. >> _______________________________________________ >> Discuss mailing list >> Discuss@lists.osgeo.org >> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > Discuss@lists.osgeo.org > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss -- Allan Doyle Director of Technology MIT Museum | http://web.mit.edu/museum | +1.617.452.2111 _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss Warning: Information provided via electronic media is not guaranteed against defects including translation and transmission errors. If the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this information in error, please notify the sender immediately. _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss