26 Based on the book Pragmatic GIS, this talk demonstrates how you can build your own Google Maps in-house, using nothing but open source software including PostgreSQL, PostGIS, and GeoServer. We also discuss integrating free, public domain data from sources like the US Census Bureau and the USGS. If you're looking for a real-world introduction to AJAX, you'll find it here. If you're looking for a real-world example of web services in use, you'll find it here. For many people, the subtle distinction between "free but proprietary" and "free and open source" is lost. Google Maps is a prime example of this. While the power of Google Maps is quite impressive, it is at the end of the day a closed-source proprietary solution. Usage is governed by a license -- liberal, but not without restrictions. And if you'd prefer to host your own Google Maps instance with your own customized data, you are simply out of luck. Thankfully, there are free and open source mapping solutions out there that allow you to match Google Maps feature for feature. Based on the book Pragmatic GIS, this talk will give you a step by step demonstration of how to build your own Google Maps using nothing but open source software including PostgreSQL, PostGIS, and GeoServer. We'll discuss open data exchange standards like the Open Geospatial Consortium's web services like Web Map Services (WMS) and Web Feature Services (WFS). We'll also discuss how to use the free, public domain map data made available by various governmental agencies from the US and abroad. AJAX will be fully present here. You'll see live, working AJAX code. We'll also discuss some of the pitfalls of AJAX -- cross-browser compatibility issues, etc. If you've had no previous mapping experience, this talk breaks the domain down into easy to understand concepts. You'll come out with a better understanding of the challenges and rewards of hosting your own web mapping infrastructure. FOSS4G2006 - Free And Open Source Software for Geoinformatics Workshop Session 3 Scott Davis scott@davisworld.org Scott Davis scott@davisworld.org <MaKaC.conference.ContributionType object at 0xb3bfc4ec> [WKS] Workshop