As described on the About page, USGIN is a distributed data network. As indicated on the User page, USGIN may be accessed by anyone with an Internet connection.

For USGIN data consumers, accessing USGIN will almost always begin with the USGIN Metadata Catalog. From here, USGIN data consumers can search for, discover, preview, and access all USGIN data.

Having located their data, USGIN data consumers can access it with any of a variety of client software. Though many data consumers will use ArcGIS, ArcGIS is proprietary software and some data consumers many not have access to it. Fortunately, USGIN supports a wide variety of free-and-open-source software clients, including:

• ArcGIS Explorer
• ArcGIS Online
• Google Earth
• Grass GIS
• gvSIG
• OpenLayers
• Quantum GIS
• uDig
• Worldwide Telescope

Though these clients will be sufficient for USGIN data hosted as web services, shape files, or other GIS-compatible file formats, some USGIN data takes the form of images or spreadsheets that need to be opened in different software clients. Fortunately, USGIN also supports open-source software solutions for images and spreadsheets. A list of actively maintained spreadsheet applications can be found in the able below:

Likewise, open-source image editing software is also available:

• The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

As demonstrated above, USGIN provides free-and-open-source data access solutions for all data hosted according to USGIN specifications.