Understanding Non-KCGIS Data
Structure, Naming Conventions, Metadata

Introduction
File structure
File naming convention
Metadata

Introduction

Definition of non-KCGIS data: Non-KCGIS data is defined as GIS data obtained from sources external to King County government, such as cities, adjacent counties, and government agencies who manage information that affects King County.

Modification of Non-KCGIS data: Generally data from these sources is loaded into the KCGIS Spatial Data Warehouse with no update or modification save for necessary name changes and application of the KCGIS standard projection.

Redistribution of Non-KCGIS data: With rare exception, King County does not redistribute non-KCGIS data, although the KCGIS Center will assist requestors by providing general information about the data and contact information for the source to facilitate a data acquisition.
 

File Structure

Non-KCGIS data is housed by subject matter rather than source. Subject themes for non-KCGIS data are the same as their internally-maintained counterparts, but have the suffix "_ext" attached (_ext for 'external' data sources). For example, "plan" contains internally-maintained planning information, while "plan_ext" contains all planning layers obtained from non-KCGIS agencies, regardless of source.

For example, a layer that depicts lakes and ponds provided by the City of Bellevue will reside in the same directory (hydro_ext) as a stream layer from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.

For a current list of subject area, both KC-maintained and non-KCGIS data, see the Spatial Data Catalog main page.

File Naming Convention

Each data layer from an non-KCGIS source will be given a three-letter prefix that represents the source entity according to the following rules:

• All prefixes shall have three alphanumeric characters.
   

• All prefixes shall be separated from the remainder of the layer name by an underscore delimiter: "_".
   

• All source-entity-assigned layer names will be maintained where possible, though some name modifications may be made to assist in search engine functionality.
   

• The first character of the three-character prefix shall be a letter which identifies the data source category:

  • f: counties (from FIPS—Federal Information Processing Standard)

  • c: cities

  • s: state entities

  • n: national (federal) agencies

  • r: regional entities

  • d: school districts

  • l: local service districts

  • u: universities and colleges

  • other category codes may be added as necessary
     

• The remaining two characters of the three-character prefix shall be a combination of letters or numbers which identifies the specific data source entity:

  • each county shall be represented by its two-digit FIPS number

  • each city in King County shall be represented by its two-letter Assessor’s code

  • other entities shall be represented by the unique codes specified in the code tracking spreadsheet (32kb .xls)

  • additional entity codes shall be added to the tracking spreadsheet as necessary.

Some examples:):

• CSE: City (C)  of Seattle (SE)

• F53: Pierce County (whose FIPS (F) number is 53)

• SNR: Washington State (S) Dept. of Nat. Resources (NR)

Non-KCGIS Metadata

Metadata for non-KCGIS data is structured in the same way as that for internally-maintained data.

Metadata content for individual layers is presented "as is." We may make formatting changes to create a more parallel presentation, but we do not alter the content.

Specific questions regarding non-KCGIS data or its metadata for should be directed to the contact listed in the metadata.

Metadata can be found in the Spatial Data Catalog.

Revised December 7, 2005