Librarians in academic and research institutions are increasingly involved in the curation and visualization of data created by their organizations. This presentation, presented as part of a session on "The Data Librarian" at the Internet Librarian International 2013 conference, explored how information professionals can use open source GIS software to add value to data.
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Visualizing Data with Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
1. Data Visualization with GIS
Kate Dougherty, University of Arkansas
Internet Librarian International
October 16, 2013
2. What is GIS?
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a
computer-based method for collecting,
managing, analyzing, modeling, and
presenting geographic or spatial data.
• Can overlay maps and datasets and query
them in terms of their spatial relationships to
each other.
3. Vector Data
Individual features:
– Points for cities
– Roads
– Boundaries
Raster Data
Continuous or gridded data:
– Air photos
– Satellite imagery
– Scanned maps
4. What is GIS Used For?
•
•
•
•
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Identifying conservation areas
Vehicle routing
Siting new facilities
Market and demographic research
Much more!
5. Where does the data come from?
• Federal
– Geo.data.gov
– Many countries have a
central GIS portal
• State GIS portals
• Local (counties/cities)
– Quality & availability of
local portals vary widely
• Educational institutions
• Non-profits
• Commercial sources
6. Types of GIS Software
“GIS Lite”
Professional
• Focus on display:
• Focus on analysis:
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–
–
–
Google Earth
Google Maps
BatchGeo
Many others
–
–
–
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Esri’s ArcGIS/ArcMap
Quantum GIS
GRASS
Others
7. Quantum GIS (QGIS)
• Open source professional-level software
– From the Open Source Geospatial Foundation
http://www.qgis.org/
8. Click to add data
Table of
contents that
shows &
organizes the
project’s
layers.
The “data frame” that displays the spatial data.
20. GeoCommons.com
• Platform for sharing and • Upload & map data
(files up to 20 MB)
visualization of data
through maps
• Analyze data
• Open source
• Use or combine with
others’ data to create
• Cloud-based
new maps
43. Thank You!
Kate Dougherty
Geosciences and Maps Librarian
University of Arkansas
kdough03@gmail.com
Twitter: @kate_dougherty
Background: Geologic Map of County Clare, http://frackingfreeireland.org/info-to-download/maps/