Practical Geographic Information Systems (GIS): A Workshop Series
Practical Geographic Information Systems (GIS): A Workshop Series Online
Making a nice map for your final project often feels like a daunting task. You download Google Earth, you mark a few blobs on the earth that look like the right spot, then you screenshot the result. But it doesn’t really come out the way you planned. There is a better way! With a little bit of effort you can learn how to make nice looking maps that actually enhance your research project and open new avenues for data analysis. You need to learn the basics of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
I know, it isn’t the most exciting name – but trust me, this is a powerful tool for spatial analysis. It is also a great item to have on your C.V. Maybe you are a History of Art major who would like to map the origins of art objects in a museum collection. Maybe you are a geology student who would like to map coastal erosion in Long Island. Maybe you are a Classics student who would like to visualize the major literary hubs of the ancient world. If you are an Archaeology, Cities, or Geology student – you will probably need to know the basics.
This workshop is the first in a series of four sessions aimed towards promoting the use of Geographic Imaging Systems (GIS) in the Arts and Sciences. We will focus on the open-source, completely free GIS app known as QGIS and learn some of the most basic GIS tools so you can make your maps better. The first session will feature an overview of the two major GIS applications – QGIS and ArcGIS. We will talk about the merits of both programs so you can decide which is best for you. We will talk about some key GIS concepts and analytical tools that you can use in either program.
See our blog post on the Spring Digital Scholarship Workshop series.
- Date:
- February 20, 2021
- Time:
- 12:00pm - 1:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Host:
- Library & Information Technology Services
- Online:
- This is an online event. Event URL will be sent via registration email.
- Audience:
- Faculty Staff Students
- Categories:
- Digital Competencies Digital Scholarship Tech Learning Opportunities Workshop
How can GIS help you? Here are some examples of the types of maps you can make:
Archaeology + Anthropology:
- Archaeological sites in a region
- Understanding the relationship between sites
- Movement of ancient and modern populations
- Creating a Digital Elevation Model
- Controlling excavation data
- Site detection by satellite and remote sensing
Cities:
- Urban development and infrastructure
- Heat maps of population density
- Modern segregation, gentrification, and class division
- Government spending by district
Classics:
- Ancient sites
- Ancient travel and trade networks
- Visualizing places mentioned in ancient texts (like the projects TOPOS Text, Pleides, etc.)
- Places where texts were recovered
- Ancient literary hubs
Environmental Sciences:
- Land coverage (forest types, marshlands, water bodies
- Animal migration routes
- Coastal erosion
- Effects of global warming
- Heat maps of animal agriculture pollution
Geology:
- Geological zones and geomorphology
- Creating a Digital Elevation Model
- Mines and natural resources
English and other literary studies:
- Locations mentioned in texts
- An author’s writing locations and biography
History of Art + Museums:
- An artist’s biography
- Collections provenance and acquisitions maps
- Mapping the materiality of works
Research and Instruction Librarian
Coordinator Rhys Carpenter Library
Contact: lsurtees@brynmawr.edu