Accessing the Alexandria Digital Library from geographic information systems

We describe two experimental desktop library clients that offer improved access to geospatial data via the Alexandria Digital Library (ADL): ArcADL, an extension to ESRI's ArcView GIS, and vtADL, an extension to the Virtual Terrain Project's Enviro terrain visualization package. ArcADL provides a simplified user interface to ADL's powerful underlying distributed geospatial search technology. Both clients use the ADL Access Framework to access library data that is available in multiple formats and retrievable by multiple methods. Issues common to both clients and future scenarios are also considered.