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Find the Map Before You Make the Map: Introducing Map Library Search in GeoJSON Cloud

Find the Map Before You Make the Map: Introducing Map Library Search in GeoJSON Cloud

July 10, 2026

The problem every map-maker knows

Before you can edit, style, or publish a map, you have to find the underlying data. For a GIS analyst that might mean navigating a federal data portal, hunting through a humanitarian exchange, cross-referencing an academic catalogue, and then converting three incompatible file formats before the work actually begins. For a journalist or civic technologist who is not a GIS specialist, the same task can take an entire afternoon — or simply get abandoned.

That friction has grown sharper in 2026. On 1 July 2026, the EU's INSPIRE Geoportal — the continent's central harmonised discovery point for spatial datasets — was officially decommissioned. The community is still settling on successors. Meanwhile, the U.S. government's data.gov now indexes more than 364,000 datasets (as of 9 July 2026), a catalogue so large that broad searches return hundreds of loosely related results. Global sources including OpenStreetMap, Natural Earth, the World Bank Data Catalog, and humanitarian repositories each maintain independent interfaces with different search conventions, different file formats, and different licensing rules.

The result: finding a map that already exists is, paradoxically, harder than it was a year ago.

Map Library Search in GeoJSON Cloud is designed to close that gap. It lets you search multiple trusted sources from a single interface and bring results directly into the editor — so the workflow becomes search → preview → open → edit → export, without leaving the browser.

Why a fragmented landscape makes search harder

The INSPIRE gap

For European practitioners, the INSPIRE Geoportal was the go-to starting point for harmonised cross-border datasets covering land use, hydrology, transport networks, and administrative boundaries. Its decommission on 1 July 2026 removed that single entry point. geocat.com published a post on 7 July 2026 announcing OpenDataCat (opendatacat.net), a community-built GeoNetwork-powered replacement that exposes an OGC API Records endpoint. Whether OpenDataCat's coverage matches INSPIRE's former holdings has not been independently verified; practitioners relying on specific European datasets should verify directly.

The catalogue abundance problem

At the other extreme, abundance creates its own friction. data.gov hosts over 364,000 federal datasets, spanning agriculture, climate, infrastructure, demographics, and more. Not all are geospatial, not all are downloadable vector data, and not all are current. Knowing which datasets are trustworthy, maintained, and fit for purpose requires domain knowledge that general-purpose search engines cannot supply.

Standards convergence is coming — but not yet arrived

The geospatial standards community is actively working toward a common discovery API. GeoNetwork 5 is preparing a new OGC API Records client for demonstration at FOSS4G 2026 in Hiroshima this August, signalling serious momentum. When OGC API Records achieves broad adoption, federated catalogue search will become significantly easier. Until then, practitioners face a patchwork of REST APIs, CSW endpoints, STAC catalogues, and plain file servers — none of which talk to each other natively.

What trusted sources look like in practice

Map Library Search is only as useful as the sources behind it. Here is what makes each major category of source worth including — and what to watch for when you use data from them.

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is the world's largest collaborative geographic database, updated continuously by millions of contributors. Data is available under the ODbL licence, which requires attribution and share-alike for derivative databases. Pre-packaged regional extracts from Geofabrik are updated daily; the U.S. extract as of 8 July 2026 reflected data through 2026-07-08T20:21:31Z. OSM is unmatched for street networks, points of interest, and local infrastructure in well-mapped regions, but coverage quality varies globally.

Natural Earth

Natural Earth provides vector and raster cartographic data at 1:10m, 1:50m, and 1:110m scales, covering coastlines, country and state boundaries, rivers, populated places, and more. It is released under a CC0 (public domain) licence, making it freely usable without attribution requirements — among the most permissive licences available for geospatial data. It is the standard starting point for world- and continent-scale maps.

World Bank Official Boundaries

The World Bank Data Catalog publishes administrative boundaries at Admin 0, 1, and 2 levels in GeoJSON, Shapefile, and GeoPackage formats, last updated 12 June 2026. These boundaries are widely used in development sector reporting and international analysis. Always verify which boundary set is appropriate for your use case, as disputed territories and maritime limits are handled differently across sources.

U.S. federal open data (data.gov)

data.gov is the primary catalogue for U.S. government geospatial datasets from agencies including USGS, Census Bureau, NGA, and NASA. The 364,036-dataset figure as of 9 July 2026 covers all data types, not only geospatial or downloadable vector files. Quality, currency, and format vary significantly by agency and dataset.

USGIF Open Source Geospatial Compendium

The USGIF compendium, updated 7 July 2026, provides a curated cross-reference of major public geospatial repositories including NASA EarthData, USGS Earth Explorer, the Esri ArcGIS Living Atlas, the AWS Registry of Open Data, and NGA GEOINT products. It is a useful checklist for practitioners auditing which sources to consult for a given project.

Esri ArcGIS Living Atlas

The Esri ArcGIS Living Atlas is a curated collection of global maps, apps, and data layers maintained by Esri and its community. Many layers are available at no cost, but access to the full catalogue — and the ability to use layers in external tools — may require a free or paid ArcGIS Online account. Practitioners should verify access terms for any specific layer before incorporating it into a workflow.

How to get the most from Map Library Search

Whether you are a GIS analyst building a production pipeline or a journalist who needs a quick country outline, a few habits will make multi-source search more productive.

1. Start with the broadest useful term, then filter. A search for "Kenya administrative" will surface results from multiple sources. Once you see what is available, narrow by region, scale, or data type. This is faster than opening four separate portals.

2. Check the licence before you use the data. Natural Earth's CC0 status means you can use it anywhere without attribution. OpenStreetMap's ODbL requires attribution and share-alike for derivative databases. World Bank datasets typically carry the CC BY 4.0 licence. Each source surfaces different obligations — read the licence before publishing a map derived from that data.

3. Match the source to the scale of your project. Natural Earth is ideal for continental or global overviews. OpenStreetMap is better for city-level or street-level work. World Bank boundaries are appropriate for international development or policy contexts. Using a high-resolution OSM extract for a world map, or a 1:110m Natural Earth layer for a neighbourhood map, will produce poor results.

4. Verify currency for operational use. OSM data via Geofabrik can be just a day old. Some World Bank or government datasets may be months behind. For any map that will inform decisions — journalism, public policy, emergency response — confirm the data's last update date and cross-check against the source portal directly.

5. Remember that GeoJSON Cloud is an editor, not a data publisher. Map Library Search surfaces data from third-party sources. GeoJSON Cloud does not own, host, or warrant those datasets. Attribution, licensing compliance, and suitability verification remain the responsibility of the practitioner using the data.

From search to published map: the complete browser workflow

With Map Library Search, the end-to-end process for a typical project looks like this:

  1. Search — Enter a place name, topic, or dataset name in the Map Library Search panel.
  2. Preview — Review matching results from multiple trusted sources before committing to a download.
  3. Open in editor — Load the selected dataset directly into the GeoJSON Cloud editor, displayed on an interactive map.
  4. Edit — Add or remove features, update properties, and adjust geometry using the drawing and editing tools.
  5. Export — Download the finished file as GeoJSON, or use a supported export format.

This is a natural extension of the editor's existing strengths — opening GeoJSON, KML, zipped Shapefiles, CSV, WKT, and TopoJSON; editing geometry; and converting between formats — all without installing desktop GIS software.

A note on data quality and production workflows

Multi-source discovery accelerates the early stages of mapping work. It does not replace due diligence. For any dataset you intend to publish or use in a decision-making context, validate the geometry, confirm the coordinate reference system, check for known issues in the source documentation, and independently verify currency. The geospatial community's long-standing principle applies: find the data, but audit it before you trust it.

Sources and further reading