The Moose is loose, Mapping with GeoMoose

GeoMOOSE (www.geomoose.org) is the open-source web based GIS project started by the City of Saint Paul. It is a very extensible client framework for MapServer and adheres strongly to a Service-Orientated Architecture and configurability. GeoMOOSE has a number of strengths making it ideal for use in a number of varying environments. Most notably is its capabilities for data organization and administration on the back end, which enables GIS system administrators to distribute the data maintenance and management to the data owners. It also easily integrates with both tabular and spatially based data web services. This workshop will introduce GeoMoose, the client interface, as well as cover installation, and configuration of the GeoMoose client for services with MapServer. Some advanced topics will be discussed as they come up, but the session is intended to first and foremost convey the ease with which GeoMoose can be installed and configured for the typical user and/or administrator that wants to operate their own mapping service and/or distribute the maintenance aspects of their GIS publication effort. Advance topics may include interface customization, cartography of map layers, adding data layers, and configuring both GeoMOOSE and external services. The workshop will be presented using exercises to present the individual topics. Students are encouraged to bring their own laptop to class for installation of the service. Windows, Linux, and Mac installs can be accommodated.