MassGIS Data Distribution Policy
Revised December 2008
All map and data requests must be ordered using the online order forms. MassGIS does not accept orders by phone, fax or those emailed to a MassGIS staff member.
INTRODUCTION
Refund Policy and Responsibilities of those Placing Orders
If your order requires payment, once you have placed an order AND we have processed your payment, we do not provide refunds. If we provide you with a map or CD/DVD that is defective, we will send you another one at no charge. Individuals placing orders are responsible for determining ahead of time that what they are ordering is appropriate for their project need. This includes determining if the content of the map is suitable, if the data ordered on CD/DVD are appropriate for the intended purpose, and if the data ordered are in a format that can be used by your software. Usually this determination can be made by diligent use of the MassGIS web site. If you cannot decide the suitability of our products for your need from information on our web site, please contact MassGIS staff.
Data and Maps You Obtain On-Line
MassGIS data are free to anyone who downloads them from the MassGIS web site (see how to cite data you use). You can also view the entire MassGIS database on-line (see OLIVER and other map viewers in the Online Mapping section). Any maps you print to your local printer from any of the on-line mapping options are, of course, also free.
Data and Maps You Order
The only maps we provide are those listed in the 'Paper Map Products" section of the online order form. If you cannot download data from our web site, you may also order data on CD/DVD through our web site. Reproduction fees may apply (as provided for under Massachusetts public records laws - see the MassGIS purchase agreement; also, see Public Records Division web site), depending on what you are requesting and whether or not you fall into one of the following categories:
Always pay reproduction fees
Conditional free data
Map Categories with a Standard Reproduction Fee:
Custom Maps
- Large-format Orthophotos (aerial photos), Legislative Districts and Reference (Statewide Wall Map): Payment if the standard fees (first copy $40, subsequent copies $5) is based on Order Qualification (Step 1 of the ordering process).
We typically do not accept requests for custom maps because we are not obligated by public records laws to create maps for which there is not already a software program that creates them. If we agree to create a custom map, the fee is the cost of the time (based on hourly rates for salary and overhead) for the staff person assigned to the task. This includes time needed for defining the map’s scope (its geographic extent, scale, content, and purpose), time for producing any map drafts, and time for producing the final version of the map. Typically, a custom map requires one or two days of work, and does not involve creating map features not already in our database. Thus custom map costs will likely be between 150 and 300 dollars, or more.
DATA DISTRIBUTION REQUESTER CATEGORIES
Members of this category are:Note that if a public agency has dedicated GIS staff, other employees as well as municipal volunteers or members of municipal boards or committees in that agency who are interested in receiving MassGIS data or maps MUST submit the request through their agency’s GIS staff. This requirement applies, for example, to the many municipalities with a dedicated GIS staff person. This requirement also applies to staff in regional planning agencies as well as to staff in the following state agencies: Department of Environmental Protection; Department of Fish and Game; Department of Agriculture and Resources; Department of Conservation and Recreation; Agencies in the Executive Office of Transportation, including MassHighway; Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority; Division of Capital Asset Management, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, State Police, and the Department of Housing and Community Development.
- A regional / local government (town/city),
- State agencies and other entities created by the state legislature,
- Public educational institution. Public educational institutions include public elementary, middle, and high schools as well as public colleges and universities (see Appendix A).
Citizens groups involved in public agency initiatives cannot request data directly without paying the copying fees. An employee of the Massachusetts public agency involved may request the data directly and pass data on to the citizens group.
Policy on data distribution to public agencies
MassGIS will provide free data to all members of this category subject to the following limitations:
Data requests from state, regional, or local government agencies MUST be made by an employee. Individuals requesting data will become the point-of-contact for their department within their parent organization (e.g. town department, agency bureau, etc.), and future requests may be referred to that individual. Requests from people at educational institutions must be made by a faculty or staff member, and there can ONLY be one data recipient per department.
- Where appropriate, the request is made through GIS staff in the requesting agency,
- Free data does not include statewide data viewers or statewide ortho images,
- The data requested is less than 3.5 GB (and will fit on no more than 5 CDs or 1 DVD),
- A specific data layer may be requested once annually and if it has not changed since the last request, it will not be supplied again.
Massachusetts public agencies that want to receive more data than will fit onto the above CD/DVD limit may be better served by establishing a complete copy of the MassGIS database on a computer at their agency. However, this requires a more formal level of contact with MassGIS. If you want more data than the above CD/DVD limit, please contact Neil MacGaffey at MassGIS (617-619-5641 or neil.macgaffey@state.ma.us) to discuss your GIS data needs and the possibility of deploying a complete copy of the MassGIS database on a computer at your institution.
Policy on standard map distribution to public agencies:
MassGIS will provide free standard maps only to regional and local government agencies and then only if their community has no individual in any department who serves as a dedicated GIS staff person. Also, no more than 5 standard large format maps may be requested annually. Free maps are no longer provided to educational institutions. For complete on-line access to the MassGIS database, please explore MassGIS' Online Mapping options.
I have read and understand this policy. Place Order
- Private Individuals, Non-Profit Organizations, Private Companies & Non-Massachusetts Public Agencies: Fee charged for maps and data
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You are a member of this category if you are:
- A private company (consultant, engineering firm, etc.)
- A federal government or out-of state public agency
- A non-profit organization
Private companies under contract to public agencies will be charged a fee. Massachusetts public agencies may request the data directly for no fee and then pass it on to their contractors. Federal government agencies may become data grantees and non-profit organizations may become data cooperators or data grantees as described below.
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Non-profit organizations with an office in Massachusetts may be eligible to become data cooperators and receive data with no fee. A data cooperator relationship is established by providing MassGIS with updates to an existing MassGIS data layer OR by providing metadata for data sets developed by the non-profit organization.
If a data cooperator is providing updates or additions to a data layer maintained by MassGIS, first contact MassGIS. Any updates/additions must be consistent with standards (accuracy, attribute naming and coding, etc.) established for the data layer by MassGIS. Metadata MUST comply with either the metadata standard established by the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Information about the FGDC metadata standard and tools for creating FGDC compliant metadata may be found on the MassGIS web site (on the Metadata Resources page).
Once MassGIS has notified the organization in writing that it has been granted data cooperator status, the organization may request data on CD/DVD as a data cooperator. This request may occur no more than annually unless there is a project-specific need or there has been a substantial change to a data layer. Image files (e.g., orthophotos, USGS quadrangles) for a given area will not be provided more than once unless new imagery has been created. MassGIS may also request copies of any data sets for which the data cooperator is the custodian.
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There are two types of organizations in this category:
- They cannot download data from MassGIS’ web site (lack of or inadequate internet access)
- Their staff capable of using GIS software does not exceed two
- The organization’s budget is less than $250,000
- Number of maps requested is no more than 5 and the data requested includes no more than 3.5 GB (and will fit on no more than 5 CDs or 1 DVD) for an area that is less than 10 towns or a single watershed.
1) Organizations working with EOEEA or one of its departments may be granted data or maps for a specific project through a prior arrangement made with an EOEEA employee. When requesting data through this category, the EOEEA project and the contact’s name, title, and phone number MUST be identified. Prior to requesting the data, the EOEEA contact person should notify the MassGIS data orders staff via email (onlinemaps@state.ma.us; put "fee status confirmation" in the e-mail subject if it does not automatically appear) stating from whom the request will come and for what project.
2) MassGIS will also consider data or map-grant requests from non-profit organizations having no relationship to EOEEA or its departments and meeting at least three of the following criteria:
In addition, an organization may be designated a grantee if MassGIS staff determine that the primary activity of the organization will lead to GIS data maintenance or development that will directly further the policy or program interests of MassGIS.
Regardless of the above categories, to be a grantee, the organization must be physically based in Massachusetts OR have a project where the primary focus is Massachusetts.
If an organization wishes to be considered for a data or map grant, someone from that organization MUST submit the request in writing or via e-mail. The request must include the organization’s name, the name and contact information for the person making the request, and what they are requesting, as well as which of the above criteria they meet. Written requests should be mailed to:
MassGIS
One Ashburton Place, Room 1601
Boston, MA 02108
ATTN: Neil MacGaffey - Data Grant Requests
E-mail requests should be sent to onlinemaps@state.ma.us; put "Data Grant Request" in the e-mail subject header if it does not automatically appear.
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APPENDIX A - Massachusetts Public Universities and Colleges
University of Massachusetts CampusesMassachusetts State Universities
- Amherst
- Boston
- Dartmouth
- Lowell
- Medical Center
Massachusetts Community Colleges
- Bridgewater State University
- Fitchburg State University
- Framingham State University
- Massachusetts College of Art and Design
- Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
- Massachusetts Maritime Academy
- Salem State University
- Westfield State University
- Worcester State University
- Berkshire Community College
- Bristol Community College
- Bunker Hill Community College
- Cape Cod Community College
- Greenfield Community College
- Holyoke Community College
- Massachusetts Bay Community College
- Massasoit Community College
- Middlesex Community College
- Mount Wachusett Community College
- North Shore Community College
- Northern Essex Community College
- Quinsigamond Community College
- Roxbury Community College
- Springfield Technical Community College
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