Topics for Survey Reference Handbook

Kent

I take it that you think this whole GIS thingy is a bunch of crap?

Keith

Kent

> I take it that you think this whole GIS thingy is a bunch of crap?

Actually, what I think is that it isn't land surveying, but that there are quite a few Geospecial Professionals and GIS software companies who would like to pretend that it is or should be considered to be.

I have nothing against GIS, but there is some reason to think that extended exposure to it, or possibly just the mind-numbing work of mapping fire plugs, will rot the brain.

A GPS newbie guide would be a good topic. RTK, Static, multipath sources, post-processing, the pros-cons, pitfalls and common mistakes of all the subtopics could also be covered.

You could also have an advanced version.

The professional surveyors are dwindling and becoming hard to find. An NCEEs - ABET graduate has no certainty of being one, but a high problabilty of being an expert button pusher right out of the box. Once the mentoring aspect of Land Surveyor apprenticship has left the licensing critera, things have gone downhill as far as having a new licensee realy understand land surveying and going on to be a professional at it ..... possible, but not probable IMHO.

Better get busy on your book, maybe you can save a few. But I am with Deral and MLB, a strictly land surveying "tradesman" or professional, is a dwindling group, and has a limited market for a commercial business. A Surveyor is much more than strictly Land Surveyor anymore. An those who are only a Land Surveyor, have an increasingly narrow market.

> Once the mentoring aspect of Land Surveyor apprenticship has left the licensing critera, things have gone downhill as far as having a new licensee realy understand land surveying and going on to be a professional at it ..... possible, but not probable IMHO.
>
> Better get busy on your book, maybe you can save a few.

Yes, there is a need to capture as much of a couple of generations of knowledge as is feasible for some of the reasons you outlined. Obviously, part of the benefit of the sort of Survey Reference Handbook under discussion is that it would provide a means of potentially vastly improving the transfer of information and knowledge above the existing models of the BS seminars and printed texts.

The whole topic of what sort of work a land surveyor may choose to pursue after leaving surveying is fine, but I personally have no interest in making that sort of migration a self-fulfilling prophesy.

> I'd like to see a dissertation on how an original government corner, monumented 150+ years ago with a scribed wood post, morphs into a "found PK nail in pavement".

LOL! Actually, a good topic would probably be how to prepare a corner record that really is a meaningful record perpetuating the location of some land corner.

FYI: http://surveyorshandbook.com

Dang, Wendell...

Ya got me with that one...:beer

DDSM

Pretty cool, Wendell

surveyorshandbook.com is a great domain name, Wendell. Excellent choice!

Don't you think you could solicit some industry ads to help support the cost of bandwidth, but without selling out the site? Not sure if that idea would go over like a lead balloon, but seems reasonable. Beer money's great, but seems like these two sites could get out of hand fast.

AN

> Don't you think you could solicit some industry ads to help support the cost of bandwidth, but without selling out the site? Not sure if that idea would go over like a lead balloon, but seems reasonable. Beer money's great, but seems like these two sites could get out of hand fast.

Yes, I'm actually hoping to approach that idea once we have some solid data to base it on. The Google ads currently in use will allow me to provide companies with some idea as to how many clicks and/or impressions each position gets. Who knows, I may try sooner, but I do know that most advertisers want to know what they are getting for their money. Even just one month's worth of statistical data should at least give me/them some idea.

Oh, and thanks to Noodles for the postcard. I can't help but think she picked it special for me because of my work in transit and that it had the streetcars on it. Nice touch.