spaceslibraries

Spaceslibraries is a term used in information science to describe an organized collection of spatial software libraries, datasets, and tools designed to support the creation, analysis, and visualization of spatial information across multiple domains. The concept treats software libraries and data resources as a cohesive ecosystem that can be discovered, shared, and reused.

Scope and components: includes core spatial computation libraries (geometric operations, topology, spatial indexing), data formats (GeoJSON, Shapefile, CityGML, 3D Tiles), visualization engines (WebGL-based renderers, Cesium, Three.js), and data stores (spatial databases like PostGIS, SpatiaLite). It also encompasses datasets (basemaps, elevation models, land use), metadata standards, and APIs or scripting interfaces for integration.

Architecture: typically modular, with a core spatial kernel, plugin extensions, adapters for data sources and formats, and a package registry. Emphasizes interoperability through standard data formats and coordinate reference systems (CRS), and supports reproducible workflows via versioning and containerization.

Applications: urban planning, environmental monitoring, navigation, virtual and augmented reality, game development, academic research.

Governance: often community-driven or institutionally hosted, with licenses ranging from permissive to copyleft. Adoption commonly relies on open standards and documentation.

History: while the specific term varies, the underlying idea of reusable spatial libraries and data ecosystems emerged with the growth of GIS, open source software, and web-based mapping in the 2000s and 2010s.

See also: Geographic information systems, Spatial databases, GIS libraries, Open data.