Exploring gazetteer options

5 June
I'm aware of several approaches to finding the geographical coordinates of places, the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names being remarkably useful because it offers both DMS and decimal degrees coordinates.

Another that my attention is directed toward is Alexandria Digital Library's Map Browser:

If I type 'chancellorsville' and ask for the Catalog Record, I get the foloowing, which includes a pointer to the USGS National Mapping Information record at http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.GetDetail?tab=Y&id=1464725

This COULD be a useful addition to the Record.

Unfortunately, at the moment the terraserver link has been changed by Microsoft (terraserver-usa.com), but it DOES seem to reformulate 

Feature Name 
Geographic Name Chancellorsville Battlefield 
Source ID BGN-USGS-1 
Feature Type 
ADL Feature Type historical sites 
Feature Type Scheme ADL Feature Type Thesaurus 
Other Classification Term LOCALE 
Classification Scheme GNIS Feature Classes 
Spatial Reference 
Geographic Location 
Footprint (image)
Geometry Type Point 
Longitude W 77° 38' 36" 
Latitude N 38° 18' 44" 
Source ID BGN-USGS-1 
Identification Code 
ADL Gazetteer Feature ID 6965295 
GNIS Feature ID Number 1464725 
Source ID BGN-USGS-1 
GNIS GIPSY Number 51005118 
Source ID BGN-USGS-1 
Related Information 
Related Entity 
Relationship IsPartOf 
Name Spotsylvania County, Virginia (FIPS 51177) 
Related Feature ID (ADL Gazetteer) 3072 
Source ID BGN-USGS-1 
Related Entity 
Relationship IsPartOf 
Name Chancellorsville VA topographic map (38077-C6) 
Source ID BGN-USGS-1 
Link to Related Information 
Link Name USGS GNIS Feature Details 
Link URL http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.GetDetail?tab=Y&id=1464725
Source ID UCSB-ADL-2 
Link to Related Information 
Link Name Yahoo("Chancellorsville Battlefield") 
Link URL http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=Chancellorsville Battlefield
Link to Related Information 
Link Name National Geographic MapMachine("Chancellorsville Battlefield") 
Link URL http://esri.nationalgeographic.com/atlas/MapMachineCF_/ng_gaz_new.cfm?search_string=Chancellorsville Battlefield
Source 
Source ID BGN-USGS-1 
Organization U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 
Web Site Geographic Names Information System 
Web Site URL http://www-nmd.usgs.gov/www/gnis
Contact Person Chief, Branch of Geographic Names 
Address 523 National Center, Reston, Virginia 20192, USA 
Information Source 
Title Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Digital Gazetteer (CDROM). National Geographic Names Data Base 
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey 
Publication Date March 1998 
Source ID UCSB-ADL-2 
Organization Alexandria Digital Library 
Web Site Alexandria Digital Library - Gazetteer Development Information 
Web Site URL http://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/gazetteer
Contact Person ADL Gazetteer Group 
Address Department of Computer Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA 
Information Source 
Title Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) 
URL http://www-nmd.usgs.gov/www/gnis/
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey 
Publication Date 1999

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The USGS search interface ("Query Form For The United States And Its Territories") is at
geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form

(the default form is DMS, not decimal degrees...)

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