This map will address various barriers to employment and child care by linking information and putting it into a spatial context, thereby creating an easy-to-use visual resource. This will increase the efficiency of case management as well as improve the outcome of the placement process; when locational factors are examined before making job placements, better decisions are made--leading to higher success rates.

For more details Click Here for detailed project information supplied by Kathy or consult the DVCCC website at www.dvccc.org

Olga Blinkova - Russian GIS Web Resources
Olga Blinkova,"GIS-Review", science editor is a long time visitor and subscriber to SpatialNews. She's recently developed a web-page with Russian GIS resources and there is a page in English too. There is an overview of GIS in Russia, some weblinks and references to upcoming Russian GIS conferences. The website is maintained in Russian - Address of the Russian page is www.geocities.com/blinkova, and in English the url is www.geocities.com/blinkova/gis.html. Olga can be contacted at blinkova@env.kharkov.ua

Andrew Faley - City of Solon, Ohio
Andrew G. Faley, Assistant to the City Engineer for the City of Solon in Northeastern Ohio is in the process of implementing a Citywide GIS for the City. Here's what Andrew says about the project. "What originally started out as creating a Cadastral Base Map and subsequent Utlities GIS, has now grown into a Citywide 5 year plan incorporating departments from Planning and Economic Development. Service, Builiding, Pollution Control, Public Safety and Clerk of Council. The response and feedback by this "new" technolgy grows daily, and we haven't even completed the base map."

"This whole Citywide GIS or COSGIS is a 4 phase, 5 year plan utlitizing ESRI software as the main software format. This project was boosted by the awarding of one of the ESRI Local Community Grants as well. Other peices of software being used in conjunction with the GIS software are Microstation, MS Access and ICES (Permitting Package). Right now the city is getting close to completing Phase 1, which was started almost a year ago, with the conversion of the County data (Parcels, Topos, Aerials, etc.) We are at the same time in the inital stage of Phase 2 for engieering which is the implementation of a Infrastucture/Utilities GIS. Other phases will include, Public Access systems, City Council access systems and Internet capabilties."

Good luck Andrew, hopefully Solon will be listed soon in our webmapping directory! Andrew can be contacted at solongis@en.com

David Nealey, Consultant and GIS Teacher
David Nealey is a proposal consultant with clients in the GIS, management consulting, and telecommunications industries. He is constantly working on proposals for clients, as many as four at a time and doing everything from basic research to the final production. Here's what David has to say... "My contributions to proposals include writing, editing, and creating graphics. Although proposal professionals aren't required to be certified yet, I have received training in proposal development from a national consulting company and have been a member of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals for several years. Each proposal effort is different and the more one works on them the better he/she is able to deal with the challenges of winning a contract in a competitive arena."

He creates maps for proposals using Intergraph's GeoMedia and sometimes even Microsoft MapPoint 2000 because he works in a heavy Windows environment. He also look for applications that are easy to use.

David also teaches GIS at a local community college on Friday nights, introducing his students to ArcView, GeoMedia, and Autodesk MapGuide in this 15 week undergraduate class. His philosophy is that no single desktop GIS does everything and I want my students to have experience with the "best of breed." David notes that "teaching has been fun because it has forced me to dig deeper into basic GIS concepts and to really start learning various GIS software. Like they say, teaching makes you really learn the material." David can be reached at dnealey@worldnet.att.net

DigiMap from John
Another SpatialNews reader (John) hase a business called DigiMap. It is a mapping/GIS service bureau. John has noted that most small to medium sized businesses need a custom-made map once in a while, however, quite often they don't have the time or the resources to buy a mapping/GIS program and learn how to use it.

The majority of his business is selling custom-made maps. Sometimes, after some discussion, the client learns just what GIS can do for their business. The most common response he hears is, "I didn't know I could do that!". John can be reached at grumpy@en.com