CHAPTER 32
Internet-Based Information Systems: The Forth Estuary Forum
(FEF) System
D.R. Green and S.D. King
ABSTRACT: In recent years much has been written about the use of the WWW
(World Wide Web) or the Internet as a global information resource. Initially a
primarily static textual and graphical information resource, developments in both the
hardware and software technology have facilitated the delivery of information in a
multimedia environment, including the use of animation, video and, most recently,
interactive spatial information in the form of maps. In 1996, a Forth Estuary Forum
Pilot Information System was developed. Provision of a simple navigational interface
offers access to a wide range of information presented in the form of text and graphics.
With the recent developments in HTML, Javascript and JAVA applets, considerable
potential now exists to extend this type of information system into a low-level
Geographical Information System (GIS). In 1997 through 1998, the FEF Info System
went ‘live’. Further developments, whilst the system is being updated, expanded, and
enhanced, will ultimately aim to offer users a more dynamic form of information
delivery, using the latest developments in Internet map servers. This chapter considers
the use of the Internet and the accompanying information browsers as the basis for
constructing an environmental information system using the FEF project at the
University of Aberdeen as an example.
Introduction
The advantages of networking information are not new and they have been widely
discussed in the context of coastal zone and marine management (see e.g. Amber,
1993). With developments in networking and communications technology, together
451
D.R. Green and S.D. King (eds.), Coastal and Marine Geo-Information Systems, 451–465.
© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
Internet-Based Information Systems: The Forth Estuary Forum
(FEF) System
D.R. Green and S.D. King
ABSTRACT: In recent years much has been written about the use of the WWW
(World Wide Web) or the Internet as a global information resource. Initially a
primarily static textual and graphical information resource, developments in both the
hardware and software technology have facilitated the delivery of information in a
multimedia environment, including the use of animation, video and, most recently,
interactive spatial information in the form of maps. In 1996, a Forth Estuary Forum
Pilot Information System was developed. Provision of a simple navigational interface
offers access to a wide range of information presented in the form of text and graphics.
With the recent developments in HTML, Javascript and JAVA applets, considerable
potential now exists to extend this type of information system into a low-level
Geographical Information System (GIS). In 1997 through 1998, the FEF Info System
went ‘live’. Further developments, whilst the system is being updated, expanded, and
enhanced, will ultimately aim to offer users a more dynamic form of information
delivery, using the latest developments in Internet map servers. This chapter considers
the use of the Internet and the accompanying information browsers as the basis for
constructing an environmental information system using the FEF project at the
University of Aberdeen as an example.
Introduction
The advantages of networking information are not new and they have been widely
discussed in the context of coastal zone and marine management (see e.g. Amber,
1993). With developments in networking and communications technology, together
451
D.R. Green and S.D. King (eds.), Coastal and Marine Geo-Information Systems, 451–465.
© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.