Here is a list of our favorite links. The links listed here do not represent an endorsement by any government agency; they're here for information purposes only, and because this is a web site, and web sites are supposed to have cool links on them. So chill out and surf like a mapper.

For links to county websites, please download our directory of cadastral mappers from the Contacts page.

Antiquated Subdivision Maps: The text of the California Supreme Court decision for Jack A. Gardner v. County of Sonoma, filed February 6, 2003.

Autodesk: Software company that makes AutoCAD, Map, and MapGuide.

Bay Area Automated Mapping Association (BAAMA): A chapter of URISA encompassing the San Francisco Bay Region that organizes educational forums and technical tours on GIS and automated mapping topics.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in California: Federal agency that manages public lands.

CADalyst: A popular CAD magazine. Includes downloadable AutoLISP code from the well-known "Hot-Tip Harry" column. Cadalyst bought out Cadence (another popular CAD magazine) in 2003, and merged its most popular columns with the existing publication.

CalGIS: The official website for the annual GIS conference in California, hosted by a different city each year.

California: State of California home page.

California Assessors Association (CAA): The CCMA's sponsoring organization.

California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG): The California Department of Consumer Affairs' information on professional engineers, land surveyors and geologists. Includes the ability to lookup licensees to view the status of their license.

California Geographic Information Association (CGIA): An organization formed in 1994 by the participants who worked on the 1993 Governor's Geographic Information Task Force Report. Its mission is to "Promote the Effective Use of Geographic Information in the State of California."

California Land Surveyors Association (CLSA): A non-profit association of public and private land surveyors in California.

California Legislative Information: The official site for access to the California State Legislature, individual legislators as well as proposed and chaptered legislation. Full searchable text of all 29 law codes, the State Constitution, and Statutes (back to 1993).

California Society of Professional Engineers (CSPA): The California charter of a national professional association for engineers, focusing on ethics, public health, and public safety.

California State Board of Equalization: The State authority that administers tax programs, including property taxes.

CartoTalk: A public forum for cartographic professionals. Read and post discussions about maps, mapmaking or related topics such as GIS, remote sensing and photogrammetry.

Crest Software Corp.: A software company based in Redding, California that specializes in county government systems. They are the creators of a property tax processing system called OPTIM (On-line Property Tax Information Management), which is currently being used by 10 counties in California.

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection: The largest private collection of historical cartography, shared with the world online.

Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI): A software company based in Redlands, California that makes ArcGIS (ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo). Their web site is vast, and provides customers with highly useful specialty areas such as the Support Center.

ET SpatialTechniques: A software company based in Pretoria, South Africa that specializes in GIS editing and productivity tools. They are the creators of ET GeoTools, ET GeoWizards, and the older EditTools for ArcView 3. The tools are available for purchase, but have some free functions.

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC): A federal committee that is developing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, which encompasses policies, standards, and procedures for organizations to cooperatively produce and share geographic data. Check out the Cadastral Data Content Standard on the Standards Publications page, and the Metadata Workbook (CSDGM Workbook) on the Geospatial Metadata Standards page.

Fleetmatics Group PLC: A company based in United Kingdom that specializes in mobile workforce solutions, such as GPS tracking of fleet vehicles. Check out their article, The Difference Between GPS and GIS, which is a curated index of links related to the basics of GPS and GIS.

GIS Cafe: An online GIS portal.

GIS Certification Institute: An independent non-profit organization that provides the GIS community with a complete certification program, leading to GISP® (Certified GIS Professional) recognition.

GIS Geography: An online GIS and geography blog with content on the uses and science of GIS.

GIS Lounge: An online GIS portal.

Hastings Law Library: Contains a searchable database of ballot propositions from 1911 to the present.

IcoMap: A parcel mapping program licensed by a company called The Fund; an ArcGIS extension originally created by UCLID Software, which became Extract Systems.

International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO): An educational and research association of individuals in the assessment profession.

Megabyte Systems Inc.: A software company based in Rocklin, California. They are the creators of a fully integrated property tax processing system called MPTS (Megabyte Property Tax System), which is currently being used by 30 counties in California.

National Map: U.S. Maps and Data; part of the USGS National Geospatial Program providing access to geospatial data and information, including the new generation digital topographic maps.

ParcelQuest: (Formerly known as County Direct Data, or CD-Data.) A real estate data marketing and software company based in Folsom, California. They have created an online application for providing easy access to standardized property data, GIS data and assessment maps for the entire state of California.

Point of Beginning: An online magazine for surveyors and related fields.

Rasterex Software: A software company based in Oslo, Norway that specializes in visualization, collaboration, and raster editing software. They are the creators of RxSpotlight, a raster and hybrid drawing editor and raster-to-vector converter.

Safe Software: A software company based in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada that specializes in spatial extract, transform, and load (Spatial ETL) technologies. They are the creators of the Feature Manipulation Engine (FME), a CAD/GIS data format translation utility.

Sidwell Company: A software and consulting company based in St. Charles, Illinois that specializes in GIS and mapping services. They are the creators of a GIS productivity toolset called Parcel Builder (an ArcGIS extension). They also have a GIS-based software product called FARMS to aid in assessing farmlands. These products are known for their integration with ESRI and Bentley GIS products.

Smart Data Strategies (SDS): A software and consulting company based in Franklin, Tennessee that specializes in CAD & GIS implementations, land records management, CAMA integration, right-of-way management, inventory management, and data conversion, among other services. They are the creators of DREAMaps, a software suite of ArcGIS extensions for managing, editing, and analyzing parcel data.

Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA): A non-profit association of professionals using GIS in government.

United States Geological Survey (USGS): A science organization headquartered in Reston, Virginia, organized within the U.S. Department of the Interior, that provides impartial information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.