I've had some musing about this for some time and thought I'd ask the forum.
Are there any resources out there that provide a standard, comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, terms and keywords for the Spatial Industry?
I've seen the Spatial Industry make leaps and bounds into other sectors outside of it's geology/geography roots, and with this terms such as GIS (geographic information system), Coordinate System, I believe are beginning to lose their potency in definition and are more historical terms due to the introduction of spatial technology to an increasing audience of users, developers and enthusiasts.
The most common example I come across, is the term Coordinate System. Typically used to defined a projected and geographic coordinate system to the uninitiated, it can become confusing or add ambiguity to an answer if the merits or differences between coordinate systems is being discussed.
As a result I prefer to use the term Spatial Reference System and offer the sub categories of projected reference system and geographic reference system. Essentially, I'd prefer to align myself with a set of agreed terms that can be addressed. If such a reference exists.
Answer
The closest thing that I'm aware of is the ESRI GIS dictionary, though of course it's tied to a proprietary software package and company. It's pretty comprehensive though: http://support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/Gisdictionary/browse
an open community version would be excellent though, something like a wiki (could be a good offshoot of this site!)
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