Map Based Search

The beta release of Map based search was commissioned by UK Location Programme  and delivered in collaboration with Ordnance Survey and the Cabinet Office.

Discovery

To help in the discovery of geographical data at data.gov.uk, the UK Location Programme is testing a beta map based search tool which is expected to provide a richer, more advanced way of searching, at national, regional and local level, for records of data sets and services that are referenced by geographical coordinates. . This is done by allowing the user to indicate their area of interest on a map and then to submit that as a search on the datasets’ bounding boxes which are held in their metadata records. We welcome feedback on the tool and contact details are given below.

Map Based Search

Overview of Map Based Search functionality

The following section provides a high level overview of Map Based Search functionality which is described in further depth within the Map Based Search User Guide    

  • The navigation controls can be used to locate the area of interest, in addition terms such as place name, postcode as well as longitude and latitude coordinates can be used. Coordinates should be in the format of a numerical string separated by a comma. For example: 51.49, -0.12.

  • Map based search will return data.gov.uk location data records with geographic extents that fall completely within, completely envelop or cut across the search area box.

  • Search boxes will not be saved when the search is complete.

  • A standard key word search may also be used to filter the results of a map based search.

  • A search may not return any records until data sets are available.

  • The map projection is European Terrestrial Reference System developed in 1989 (ETRS89) providing a UK wide search extent and ensuring interoperability between datasets across the UK and Europe.

  • The map we have used includes territorial waters as marine data will also be available.

Feedback

We welcome feedback on the beta version of the Map Based Search. As you would expect we are already working on the next version. Your comments and suggestions will be fed in to help us improve the tool.

The UK Location Programme team can be contacted thorough the UK Location Helpdesk via the contact form provided on the UK Location Website.

UK Location Programme

The pan-government UK Location Programme was set up to help and advise organisations on realising the UK Location Strategy which includes implementation of the EU INSPIRE Directive. The Programme aims to improve the discovery, sharing and re-use of public sector geographical data.

The Programme is delivering a significant change in the management of geographical information which introduces a new, innovative, and joined up service for government, business and citizens. This change will enable geographical data sets to be combined with other data sets, providing a richer level of analysis that would not otherwise be possible with the original data sets alone. Sharing and re-use of geographical information is vital to the development of effective, evidence-based environmental policies, but it also has wider applications.

Location Data

The first step was, and continues to be, the provision of geographical data resources on data.gov.uk with linked, standardised discovery metadata published by the public sector data providers and publishers that hold geographical data. This is an ongoing process and more details of the further data sets that will be made available in the current phase of the Programme are provided in the UK Location dataset report.

The data and information available through data.gov.uk are available under terms described in the 'licence' or 'constraints' field of individual dataset records (metadata). Except where otherwise noted this is the Open Government Licence.

Next Steps

For further information and regular updates on the work of the UK Location Programme and our delivery partners please visit the UK Location website or register for the UK Location RSS Feed

The UK Location website resources include guidance and useful information. For those unfamiliar with the UK Location strategy, our Getting Started Guide ‘UK Location, an introduction’ provides a useful starting point.

51.49, -0.12