(Development Research Center of China Geological Survey, Beijing 100037)
This paper briefly introduces the present situation of geological data service of the British Geological Survey from the aspects of service products, service methods, price mechanism and copyright policy.
Geological data; Service products; Service mode; Copyright policy
The British Geological Survey (BGS), founded in 1835, is the earliest national geological survey institution in the world and the most important geoscience information center in Britain. As a public service department, the British Geological Survey is mainly responsible for providing all-round geoscience advice to British government departments at all levels and fair geoscience advice to enterprises, academic groups and the public. In recent years, due to the great changes in the social environment, the objectives and mission of the British Geological Survey have also changed accordingly. More and more attention is paid to the socialized service of geoscience information and the development and utilization of geoscience information technology, and the service scope and service mode have been greatly adjusted, positioning itself as a knowledge-based scientific service provider and a user-centered strategic geoscience organization. This paper will introduce the geological survey data service of the British Geological Survey from the aspects of service products, service methods, price mechanism and copyright policy.
1 Rich and diverse service products.
As the oldest survey bureau in the world, the geological survey work area of the British Geological Survey covers not only the British mainland, but also the Commonwealth member countries and other countries. The work results are quite rich, and the geoscience products provided are various. According to the product nature, it is mainly divided into: ① geological map. Including geological maps of various scales, most of these geological maps are provided in printed form, and a few are copies, which can be made on demand. Some geo-maps provide index maps, according to which users can search and extract relevant information. ② Geological books and geological guides. Including geological research report, special regional geological guide, special regional atlas, etc. ③ Geochemical, geophysical and hydrogeological data products. It mainly includes various geochemical atlas, geophysical atlas, groundwater vulnerability atlas, hydrogeological map and hydrogeological report. (4) mineral publications. That is, a large number of publications related to British mineral resources, including mineral evaluation reports, mineral exploration reports, important mineral evaluation reports, local and regional resource evaluation reports, mineral mining statistics and so on. ⑤ Educational leisure products. That is, some popular science books, the main audience is amateur geologists and students.
It is particularly noteworthy that the Earth Science Data Center of the British Geological Survey has a large number of digital data products, which are mainly divided into digital earth science maps and digital data. Digital Geoscience Map: The British Geological Survey has produced a large number of standard digital geoscience maps by using the Geographic Information System (GIS), including land geological map, offshore geological map, geochemical map, geophysical map and1:250,000 marine bathymetric map. Mineral resources map and hydrogeological map will also be provided in digital form soon. Digital geoscience maps are divided into raster images and vector data, and there are many formats and structures according to different themes, such as ArcView and Mapinfo or other formats, and their prices vary according to layer area, theme and scale. Digital geoscience data: The British Geological Survey has a large number of digital geoscience data, covering geochemistry, geophysics, geological disasters, hydrogeology, surveying and mapping, mineral resources and other fields. These data can be queried through GDI (Earth Science Data Index) of the British Geological Survey, but all the data can be used only after signing a copyright agreement. The British Geological Survey also has a huge metadata query database, through which users can query the following categories of metadata: drilling, engineering geology, pit exploration, common geological terms, geochemistry, geochronology, geological maps, geological papers, geological process simulation, geological zoning, geophysics, hydrogeology, land survey, petrography, marine geology, minerals, paleontology, petroleum geology and petrology.
2. Geological data network service is advanced and perfect.
British geological survey results have a high degree of informatization, and dozens of related geoscience databases have been established, and a data service platform based on network environment has been vigorously developed. From a global perspective, the online service of geological survey data provided by the British Geological Survey started relatively early, and it took the lead in adopting the one-stop service mode of geological data in the world, that is, users can retrieve and order various data services provided by the British Geological Survey and obtain the geological data they need by logging in to the online store of the British Geological Survey. This service mode enables users to complete tasks that need to be completed in multiple locations at the same time at designated locations, which makes users' operation more convenient and faster, and greatly improves the efficiency of data use.
Online stores in Britain are fully functional. Users can browse all the classified information and corresponding prices of the British Geological Survey, and make purchases by filling in orders online or directly filling in credit cards. For example, if a user chooses an area, wants to know the basic geological conditions or the distribution of radioactive rocks in the area, and submits the demand online and pays the fee, the online service system of the British Geological Survey will automatically search the online database, automatically extract the corresponding text materials, data and maps according to the standard report format, and form an electronic report and send it to the user. The main function modules of online store homepage are product catalog, search, newsletter, shopping basket, buy now and contact information. The product catalog module mainly lists seven product categories: educational leisure products, geological maps, geological books and guides, geochemical geophysics and hydrogeology, mineral publications, foreign geoscience publications and technical publications, and map index. Click on these product categories to get a brief introduction and catalogue of related products. In the retrieval function module, users can directly search by inputting the retrieval information in the retrieval column, or click the three auxiliary function keys of "Search by Category", "Search by Product" and "Search by Figure". The newsletter module is mainly used to release the latest product information and help users understand which products of the British Land Survey have recently started to provide utilization services. The related link bar is used to link related information of the online store, such as "catalog download", "how to use the online store" and "product terms of use".
3. Flexible service mode and clear product price.
3. 1 Flexible service mode
As a developed country dominated by market economy, the data products of the British Geological Survey are served in various ways and with flexible means. The British Geological Survey has set up several direct sales outlets in Nottingham, Edinburgh and London. The main products are geological maps, geophysical maps, geochemical and environmental disaster maps, books on popular science in geosciences, rock and mineral specimens, secondary processing humanities and decorative supplies, digital products CDs and so on. It also sells topographic maps of different scales published by the British Military Investigation Bureau. These outlets accept mail order services and data product processing services. In addition to the direct sales outlets of the British Geological Survey, geological data can also be distributed through the websites of many organizations engaged in professional services, such as real estate developers (involving geological information such as geology, environment and groundwater in the development area), and the British Geological Survey will return a certain proportion of sales revenue to distributors (such as real estate developers about 20%).
With the rise and prosperity of the Internet, the British Geological Survey has also invested a lot of energy and funds in the network service of geoscience data, and followed the popularity of e-commerce, and cooperated with the British E-commerce Committee to establish a special online store and increase the e-commerce column. Users can directly view and understand all the classification results information and corresponding prices of the British Geological Survey through the network, and purchase the required geoscience materials through the network.
3.2 The product price is clear
The online price of geoscience data (including tax, production cost and freight) of the British Geological Survey is mainly determined by the data information center and customer service department according to the needs of market customers (the government does not intervene, but it needs to pay taxes according to law), and the product price is constantly adjusted according to the time and region. All products are clearly marked, and users can download the product catalogue and the corresponding price information online for free. The domestic postage of products of the British Bureau of Land Survey varies with the price of products, which are below 4.99, 5-9.99, 10- 19.99, 20-29.99, 30-49.99, 50-99.99 and 100 respectively. For foreign users, the postage may be higher. Some products of USGS need to pay VAT, which is stated in the catalogue, but export products don't need to pay VAT.
The price of geoscience data products of the British Geological Survey is quite clear, but it is not static, and will be adjusted according to the specific use conditions (such as service life, number of holders, etc.). The following is an example of a digital earth science map.
The fees charged by users for digital geoscience maps of the British Geological Survey are called licensing fees. The license fee includes data preparation fee (DPC), data usage fee (DUC) and license management fee (LAC). The license fee for the first year includes data production fee, data usage fee and license management fee. Continued use fees include data use fees and license management fees. It should be noted that the data production fee included in the license fee refers to the standard data production fee. If customers have special requirements on the structure, design and quantity of GIS data, they need to pay a separate data production fee, which is different from the data production fee as part of the digital license fee.
Table 1 License Fee Table for Digital Geoscience Maps of British Geological Survey with Different Years of Service
Table 2 British Geological Survey multi-user license agreement fee ladder license fee table
The current product license fee system of the British Geological Survey encourages users to purchase products with a long service life at one time, that is, the longer the service life of the purchased products, the more cost will be saved (table 1). For example, to obtain a five-year license at one time, the fee to be paid is 5×DUC+DPC+LAC. If you plan to renew your contract every year, the fee formula for the five-year license is as follows: the fees for the first year to the fifth year are DUC+DPC+LAC, DUC+LAC and DUC+LAC respectively, so the five-year license fee for the product is 5× DUC+DPC+5× LAC. The license management fee is four times that of one-time renewal.
In addition, the licensing fee system also encourages users to purchase multi-user data licensing agreements, that is, the more authorized users, the more favorable the price. Table 2 is the multi-user license agreement fee ladder license fee table of the British Geological Survey.
4 Copyright, royalties and confidentiality issues
4. 1 All rights reserved
The copyright of British geological survey is based on 1988 Copyright Design and Patent Law and Conditions for Providing Digital Data (2003-2004). The copyright of the works of the British Geological Survey belongs to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and the Intellectual Property Management Office of the British Geological Survey is authorized to issue such licenses on behalf of the Natural Environment Research Council. In order not to infringe copyright, all matters related to the copyright of a work must be agreed by the copyright owner. In general, you must hold a specific copyright license and pay an appropriate annual fee to copy the works of the British Bureau of Investigation. The licensee who holds the annual (license) certificate has the right to extract the maps and other documents of the British Geological Survey and transfer them to a third party according to the regulations, but the licensee of this license has no right to regard the works of the British Geological Survey as the licensee's own works, nor to publish the works under this illusion.
The copyright license of the British Geological Survey does not include the right to copy and use any digital works, so special permission is required. It also does not include other rights to promote and use the works of the British Geological Survey, and any promotion and use must be approved separately. The British Geological Survey also needs a separate license to use photos. All digital works published by the British Geological Survey must be cited by a separate digital works license issued by the British Geological Survey. Each license can only use the data set for several purposes specified for the licensee (or only for several purposes specified for the licensee's unit, contractor or subcontractor). The license fee will not be refunded if only part of the digital data is used according to the intended purpose, but there is no license to use the rest of the digital data later.
4.2 Royalties
If the data used are processed or added value, thereby providing consulting contract products or goods that can be sold publicly (whether in analog or digital form), royalties shall be paid to BGS. Royalties are paid according to the nature of products (commodities) and the number of copies issued. If BGS works are incorporated into the commercial computer information system, royalties will also be paid. The amount and frequency of royalties shall be determined according to the agreed terms and contract provisions. BGS Intellectual Property Management Office shall specify the nature and amount of royalties in advance to ensure that the expected products (services) will not affect BGS's own use of the works. BGS reserves the right to collect free copies of publicly sold value-added products and hand them over to the Geological Archives.
4.3 confidentiality system
Take the map of the British Geological Survey as an example. Its copyright owners include the British Geological Survey and the Ordnance Department. Most geological maps of the British Geological Survey use the topographic data of the Ordnance Department, which belongs to the "Crown Copyright". The British Geological Survey recognizes the "Crown Copyright" of its geological maps and other publications (and other copyright owners). The works of the Ordnance Department can only be reproduced by the licenses issued by the Ordnance Department to many users. Users who cannot copy their terrain data without the permission of the Ordnance Department must consult with the Ordnance Department. Only with the permission of Ordnance Department can you copy the map of British Geological Survey; Similarly, you have no right to copy works protected by "top copyright" only with the permission of the British Land Survey.