Presentation given the JISC Geo Programme Meeting in London on Tuesday 29th November 2011.

1. Training Non-GIS Experts
in the Use of Geospatial
Tools & Technologies
at Stanford University
Patricia Carbajales, Geospatial Manager,
Branner Earth Sciences & Map Collections,
Stanford University

2. Geospatial Information Systems:
The evolution of the Geospatial Community
Systems Applications
Source: Joseph Berry, Geoworld Magazine, October 2006

3. Geospatial Information Systems:
Present & Future Directions
• AT PRESENT
• GIS development has been evolutionary, then revolutionary
• Contemporary needs
• Technical breakthroughs
• From descriptive inventories to prescriptive analysis
• GIS technology has changed our perspective of a map:
• Provider of input – Vital ingredient in decision-making
• Geotechnology is moving toward commodization
• Undifferentiated product
• Characterized by price, not quality
• GIS is “As different as it is similar” to traditional mapping
• FUTURE DIRECTIONS
• Social Solution vs. Scientific Solution

4. The Importance of GIS in Higher Education
• “Geotechnology is one of three mega technologies for the 21st century
together with nanotechnology and biotechnology”. U.S. Department of Lab
• Projected to have one of the top ten fastest growth of employment
between 2005 and 2015
• More than 350,000 organizations using GIS
• Growing demand for working professionals
• Overall market size: $50-$60 Billion in total revenue for acquiring,
managing, analyzing map data
• Applied in over 100 academic disciplines
• Millions of GIS Users (Emergency response, natural resources, utilities,
business, sociology, transportation,…)
• Enhances educational goals: creative thinking, problem-based learning
approaches, civic engagement,...
• It has saved thousands of millions of dollars through increased productiv
and efficiencies

5. Stanford’s Libraries Strategy:
Centralized Geospatial Center
• Center of excellence in GIS:
+ Forum for exchange of ideas and expertise: intellectual osmosis
- Room full of hardware, software, and intimidating GIS experts
+ Faculty oversight in GIS Committee:
+ No draining costs for traditional programs
+ No fights over academic ownership
+ Space, hardware, software, and data acquisition are a communal good
- Not just another “techno-science” addition
• GIS technology benefits from its diversity as it does from its oneness:
+ To be embraced into existing courses, it needs to be close to its user’s minds
- An isolated building on the other side of campus
+ Grabs a student’s attention by directly relating to his field of interest
+ Application-specific GIS, eclectic set of courses - Theoretical bases
+ Incorporate unconventional concepts and approaches

6. Stanford’s Libraries Strategy:
Keys to success
OBJECTIVES: SUCCESSFUL SOLUTION:
• Awareness 1. Learning environment
• Basic principles 2. Leadership communicates commitment & sponsorship
• Mapping know-how 3. Comprehensive, simple, flexible
• Domain expertise 4. End-users must be proactively involved in all phases
• Data delivery
• Center of excellence Scope
• Learning environment
• Support for all
academic disciplines Cost Expectations Time
PRINCIPAL CAUSES FOR FAILURE: Quality
1. Poor planning
2. Lack of corporate management support
3. Poor project management
4. Lack of customer focus and end-user participation

7. Branner Library Geospatial Services
Civil & Environmental
Earth Sciences Anthropology Political Sciences
Engineering
(Fundamentals of GIS) (Spatial Approaches) (Social Sciences)
(Hydrology)
Review Class
Sessions: Undergrads
Support
Undergrads
Graduates
Grads &
WhereCamp:
BrannerStaff:
GIS
Library Instruction
Consultation
Post-docs
Outreach Geospatial Manager
GIS Community 2 GISServices
GIS Assistants Data Resource Center
Support Center
Faculty
Geography
Collaboration
Week & Data Resource Center
GIS Day: Technical Support
Stanford Univ Staff
Spatial Academic
Digital Humanities
History Technology
Specialists
Lab Specialists

8. GIS at Branner Library
MISSION: Support all faculty, students, and staff in
their GIS-related activities.
SERVICES
• Data Resource Center
• Consulting:
• Data gathering
• Advanced spatial analysis
• Effective cartographic display
• Instruction
• Troubleshooting
• GIS facility for project development

9. Stanford’s Libraries Response:
GIS Education & Training
• “Thinking with maps”: mapped data spatial information
• GIS education: raise awareness + stimulate interest + sound foundation
• Learning environment Vs. teaching environment
Support for high level research analysis
HIGHER Customized data manipulation & modeling
LEVEL
MODELING Specific courses by discipline
APPLICATIONS
Working with & storing geospatial data
Query, analysis, display and output
USER TRAINING
IN BASIC GIS TECHNOLOGY
Spatial relationships, topology
Examples applied to different disciplines
Coordinate systems, datums, projections
BASIC SPATIAL UNDERSTANDING Scale & precision, data formats, components
Data capture (GPS, scanners, RS, CADD)
GIS AWARENESS Pool of potential new users are
& APPLICATIONS
introduced to what GIS can do with
emphasis on the diverse backgrounds,
interests, and objectives

10. Workshops
• Hands-on with instructor • In one year:
• Student participation • 4 different models
• “No student left behind” • Intro to ArcGIS
• Data Creation &
• Following with consultation 1-on- Management
1 (return on investment) • Advanced GIS Series
• Tailored to cover most frequent • Google Mapping
needs: Technologies
• Compatibility • 2 coming up soon
• Analysis • Projections
• Spatial Statistics
• Publishing
• Over 80 workshops
• Always evolving: based on
feedback from students • More than 340 students
• Expanding to non-traditional • Popularity mostly from
geospatial software former students
• Integrated in classrooms • bit.ly/geotraining

11. Geospatial Software & Users
• ArcGIS Desktop Spatial Analysis
• Compatibility Research
• Requirements in current job market Project
Job requirement
• Capacity for analysis Basic to advanced
• Campus Site License User
• 640 library clusters
• Over 2,000 installs
• Free training
• Tech. Support
Publishing &
• Google Earth, Maps & Fusion Tables Collaboration
• Easy, user- friendly, familiar Research
Project
• Great for collaboration & publication
Basic user
• R, QGIS (specialized GIS groups) Specific Tasks
Research
• PostGIS, OpenLayers, ArcSDE,
Project
ArcGISServer (non-utilized) Advanced user

12. Outreach:
Geography Awareness Week & GIS Day

13. Conclusions
• Main objective: establish geospatial foundation
• Responsibility for solid foundation
• Limited resources
• Specialized groups
• Faculty’s involvement is critical
• Often not easy
• Enforcement of fundamentals
• “Human resource” as important as infrastructure
• Balance between goals, expectations and resources
• Next steps: expand expertise and support to
programming languages such as Python

14. Thank you
• Websites: • Contact information:
gis.stanford.edu carbajales@stanford.edu
bit.ly/geotraining
Thank you for listening!