October 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 71

seven times more active. While the personnel statistic was attributable partially to roles that the city's
public works department carries out, the report put
into clearer perspective for Potter just how much the
agency had been able to accomplish with a relatively tiny staff. And how well they had recruited and retained volunteers.
Potter also points to the following uses for her
department:
■■ ■Enhancing inter-departmental communication and
staff morale. The data, she says, is relevant not only
to the parks and recreation staff-but also to Human
Resources, Finance, IT, and Public Works. Moreover,
she could supply her own staff with concrete information on areas of excellence. " Everyone stands to
benefit from our reporting, " she comments.
■■ ■Time savings. Once the data is entered, Potter observes, only quick updates are needed from one fiscal year to the next.
■■ ■Responsiveness to requests from local government
leaders. " We were charged, for example, with finding the 'walkability' from each neighborhood to each
park amenity, " Potter explains. " We were able to respond with a report on which neighborhoods might
be underserved and what we need to plan for as
money becomes available.
" As the economy improves, " Potter says, " we
hope to reap more benefits. " For now, she intends
to use the data generated by PRORAGIS to enhance
the professionalism and responsiveness of her department, offer her resource development specialist
" the latest and greatest, " and recognize her staff's
successes.

" Crowdmapping " : Gis meets social media
" Just look at what open-access GIS platforms have
done for emergency response and international human rights. Not to mention mapping our streets, " says
Dr. David Rain, George Washington University geography professor and consultant to the United Nations and World Bank. " If people are motivated to
share using the same data standards, " Rain explains,
" they can all 'talk' with one another. " And that peerto-peer " talking " through mapped data is changing
the world. Rain points to online GIS project success
stories like Ushahidi and OpenStreetMap-web platforms that use " crowdmapping " to get emergency
assistance where it is most needed, document international human rights abuses, and simply expand
public access to place-based information.
" Of course, for these kinds of connections to be
possible, " Rain adds, " it is important for everyone
to share. "
Drs. Thomas Mueller and John Confer could not

Through PRORAGIS, Gaithersburg, Maryland's
park and recreation department learned that it
has 66 percent fewer full-time employees than
other similar jurisdictions.
agree more. In fact, the two California University of
Pennsylvania professors are making PRORAGIS an
object lesson for their students on the power of geospatial data-sharing. Mueller, a geographer who
specializes in GIS technology, and Confer, a parks
and recreation management professor with a background in geography, have given their students real-world projects assisting nearby park departments
in uploading their data to PRORAGIS. The students,
they say, are excited by the sheer potential and the
multi-faceted nature of the brand-new network.
The students understand, Mueller comments,
that " if communities know what other communities
have, there's the potential for more cooperation. "
It's also been exciting, he says, because the data,
once mapped, " helps park managers think more
spatially. "
Confer relates his own experiences of seeing the
power of online GIS platforms when he mapped the
first publicly accessible inventory of Pennsylvania's
trails. And he looks forward to seeing the nation's
park directors experience the rewards of charting
their public lands, programs, and assets. " Everyone
keeps talking about how GIS is going to revolutionize
our field, " Confer remarks. " And now there's a tool
that has the potential to do that. But not if it sits on a
manager's desk. "
maureen hannan is senior editor of Parks &

Recreation.

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& Recreation

October 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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