Module 1 through 3 are the sections of the Cadastral Data Content Standard educational course which present general background about the Standard, including the purpose, benefits, history, and development of the Standard.

Topics in Module 1:

• The Mission and Goals of the Cadastral Data Content Standard
• Definition of Cadastral Data
• Intended Uses of the Standard
• Why Standardize? The Benefits of Standardizing Your Cadastral Data
• Your Approach to the Standard
• When to Standardize, and when NOT to Standardize
• Example of Cadastral Data Exchange

The Mission and Goals of the Cadastral Data Content Standard

GOALS of the Cadastral Data Content Standard:

1. To provide common definitions for cadastral information found in public records, which will facilitate the effective use, understanding, and automation of land records.
2. To standardize attribute values, which will enhance data sharing.
3. To resolve discrepancies related to the use of homonyms and synonyms in federal land record systems, which will minimize duplication within and among those systems.
4. To provide guidance and direction for land records and land surveying professionals on standardized attribute values and definitions, which will improve land records creation, management.
5. To use participatory involvement in the Standard development to reach out to non-federal organizations which will encourage broadly based application of the Standard.

Definition of Cadastral Data

Intended Uses of the Standard

• is intended to support the automation and integration of publicly available land records information
• is intended to be usable by all levels of government and the private sector
• is applicable to survey measurements, transactions related to interests in land, general property descriptions, and boundary and corner evidence data
• is NOT an implementation design
• IS a standardization of entities and objects
• is intended as a stand alone data system for measurement based or transactional information, or as an attribute data system connected to a geographic information system or other graphic data management system
• does NOT contain topological linkages and spatial features

Why Standardize? The Benefits of Standardizing Your Cadastral Data

• Data sharing/communications - standardized data is more easily understood; standardization allows agencies to exchange data freely when based upon a common set of definitions and understandings about the data and its features.
• Elimination of redundancy - standardization contributes directly to the reduction and in some cases the elimination of duplication and redundant gathering of similar data and database construction.
• Maintainability - standardized data formatting and rules for data entry can mean that new information can be entered more easily; for example, standardizing document types in a Registrar of Deeds or County Recorder's office would make it easier to develop rules as to how to process and enter new information on a document.
• Direct Costs - standardized data allows for minimal post processing requirements and leads directly to more efficient use of data and technical resources; plus it adds to the effectiveness of computer operations by providing predictable data. That is, if, because of standardization, a programmer knows the range of values and the types of information to expect in various fields, then few conditional checks are required and the code will execute more rapidly.
• Correlating disparate data - by translating disparate databases to the same standard, databases which at first appear to be incompatible may in fact be compatible and complementary.
• Effective computer operations - effective computer operations means that automated systems work best when data is predictably located in a data set, as in a data set which conforms to certain standards. This increases retrieval times, can reduce storage requirements, and enhances program code requirements.
• Interagency agreements, partnerships - through data standardization, agencies and individuals can more easily create agreements and partnerships by which each may contribute its best capabilities to projects which neither could do as well alone.
• Only one data translator, not many - each agency using the Standard will need only one data conversion procedure, which will convert data to the Standard's Profile format. This saves a great deal of effort that would otherwise go into converting data to many different formats used by the many organizations with whom data is shared.
• Cost benefits - data sharing and partnerships, allowing for reduction of data duplication, and for best use of capabilities, leads directly to more efficient use of data and technical and human resources, thus enabling the reduction of overall costs.
• Dissemination of data - the Standard will increase the ease of dissemination of cadastral data throughout the governmental structure and also to the private sector. The Standard provides a means to standardize at any level (state, local, federal) and to distribute information through standardized definitions.

State of Wisconsin Example - The State of Wisconsin produced a 1:100,000 scale Public Land Survey System (PLSS) "framework" at the section level, and distributed it. It was used some, but the level of information (section level) was not applicable to agency or local government decision making needs, so the 1:100,000 scale map went pretty much unused. This level of information did not support decision making, and increased duplication of data collection, as nearly 75% of organizations went ahead on their own and divided it into section divisions --- each then using their own different section division portrayals. Wisconsin DNR quickly recognized this, and organized several agencies to produce a single state-wide 1:24000 PLSS coverage with section divisions to the sixteenth level. This reduces duplication (no one has to subdivide on their own now), and provides state-wide reference in support of index and inventory applications (but not survey or conveyance). The Oneida County example shows a small portion of this statewide coverage.

Your Approach to The Standard

Now that computer technology has reached the stage of broad based data use and sharing through networks, the need for data standards is much more immediate and obvious. For cadastral data in particular, the need to be able to share data and compare legal land records extends to nearly every land use, planning, acquisition and exchange situation throughout the nation. Standardizing cadastral data enables the numerous disciplines and offices to communicate clearly about land issues, to share data, and to avoid expensive and time consuming confusion and potential conflict between depictions of land interests and rights.

If you are beginning the process of converting your present information and procedures to conform to the guidelines of the Cadastral Data Content Standard, or if you have not yet begun building a data base and would like to, a few of the following suggestions might prove useful.

• perform a situation assessment of current and future needs (suggested reading: the National Geodetic Survey's multipurpose Land Information Systems Guidebook).
• determine which data elements you have, and what their formats and domains of value are compared to the entities in the Standard (refer to course Module 4 for discussion of data entities; and the State of Washington example in Module 5 outlines a useful method for determining which data elements you have).
• design new data structures utilizing the elements of the Standard
• evaluate thoroughly the long term value of re-writing existing software to take advantage of the Standard; the costs may in fact not be prohibitive.

When to Standardize, and When Not to Standardize

1. you have an existing database that will be combined, joined or coordinated with another database that is standardized or will be standardized, or
2. you are designing a new database for the first time, or
3. analog cadastral data is being automated, or
4. automated cadastral data is to be exchanged, or
5. substantial amounts of analog (hard copy) cadastral data will be exchanged with an agency using automated cadastral data

1. your data will never be shared or exchanged,
2. and your data set is so small that there is no practical reason to automate it.

Example of Cadastral Data Exchange

Links to the Course Modules: [Quick Reference] [Introduction] [Module 1: Purpose and Benefits of the Cadastral Data Content Standard] [Module 2: How the Standard Was Developed] [Module 3: Other Standards and Related Activities] [Module 4: Data Modeling Techniques, Rules and Diagram Conventions] [Module 5: Crosswalks, Translations, and Examples] [Module 6: Understanding Compliance with the Standard] [Module 7: Maintenance of the Standard] [Module 8: User and Technical Support] [County Recorder Module] [GIS Specialist Module] [Surveyor Module] [Glossary]