Clearinghouse (GIS)
Encyclopedia
A clearinghouse in GIS
is a repository structure, physical or virtual
, that collects, stores, and disseminates information, metadata
, and data. A clearinghouse provides widespread access to information and is generally thought of as reaching or existing outside organizational boundaries.
Geographic Information System
A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
is a repository structure, physical or virtual
Virtual
The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....
, that collects, stores, and disseminates information, metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
, and data. A clearinghouse provides widespread access to information and is generally thought of as reaching or existing outside organizational boundaries.