ArcGIS Server 10 Geoportal Extension Speeds Data Discovery

Esri expands the power of geoportals with the release of the ArcGIS Server 10 Geoportal extension. The extension allows organisations to quickly set up websites, called geoportals that help them manage and share their geospatial information externally with the public or internally with employees.

Geoportals manage resources by registering (storing and cataloging) the resources' metadata. At version 10, the extension provides tools to simplify registering, managing, using, and integrating these resources by introducing server-side resource synchronization, which replaces the harvesting tool and services from earlier versions. Once a resource is registered with the geoportal, the geoportal will monitor the resources for changes and availability and automatically update its catalog entry.

Now, searching, browsing, and using geographic information system (GIS) data registered with a geoportal allows federated searching so that users can find multiple catalogs registered with the geoportal at once. The updates also give users the ability to search ArcGIS Search Services, which is an ArcGIS Server service that makes available, to the local network, a searchable index of an organization's GIS content. The search service is integrated into the geoportal's interface, so there's no need for users to exit the extension to find what they need.