L. Jesse Rouse

The most recent episode of the Spatial@UNCP podcast asked the question of what geospatial training would you like to see offered locally. On campus we have Intro to Cartography and Remote Sensing in the catalog and Intro to GIScience going in for approval in the Spring, but these are meant to support students who are learning the underlying concepts of spatial thinking along with topical concepts. I have also provided (and plan to continue) a series of short ‘what is’ sessions on campus. There is clearly a need for more intense hands-on training for these topics as well. So the question goes out… “what do you need”. If you, your agency, or your office need training in geospatial technologies let us know what you need. Where possible we will try to meet demand with no cost or at least low coast training courses. If you have thoughts on what is needed be sure to contact me with your ideas. If you can show an audience then it will be easier to get a training event going compared to those that might only have 1 or 2 people interested. I look forward to hearing from you!

Here is the abstract for this Thursday’s session on ArcGIS at 10AM in Oxendine 2202. If you would like to attend, send Cynthia Saylor an email to register.
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ArcGIS is the industry leading software for storing, manipulating, and displaying location information. The software allows users to take advantage of the wealth of spatial data that is available from government, corporate, and public sources. While the most perceptible use of a geographic information system (GIS) is to create a map to share with others, ArcGIS provides a wealth of tools to create spatial data, consume existing data, conduct spatial analysis, and model our world. The session will spend time (30-40 minutes) discussing what GIS is and isn’t, what tools ArcGIS offers, and how ArcGIS can support your research, service, and education efforts. How to find data to support your needs will also be discussed. The remainder of the time will be spent in a self-led hands-on ArcGIS exercise.

The session is intended to provide attendees with a broad understanding of how ArcGIS may fit within their workflow. After this session you will have access to online training from Esri, the company who makes ArcGIS and, of course, time to ask specific questions about your needs for spatial analysis and mapping.

The first geospatial workshop of the 2010-11 year will take place on September 23 at 10:00-11:30 in Room 2202 Oxendine. The focus will be on the utility and use of ArcGIS 9.3. The workshop will focus on a discussion of how the software can be used for teaching, research, and service. While the workshop is too short to go into depth on the software, attendees will be provided access to online training to extend what we cover in the workshop.

I assume that you should contact DoIT if you plan to take advantage of the workshop. I should also note that if you have specific questions about ArcGIS or any geospatial technology feel free to contact me for a quick conversation or one-on-one training.

I am getting ready to do a workshop on “Finding and Creating Spatial Data” but I am going to minimize the creating aspect of spatial data this time around and saving the creating aspect to the fall semester. An hour and a half just isn’t enough time to really get into both finding existing data and creating your own data. If you aren’t able to attend but are interested in the links that I will highlight, the PowerPoint and handout are available over on the Workshops page where I archive materials from the workshops I lead.

For those of you on campus today (2/18), I will be giving a ‘get your toes wet’ session on geospatial technologies at 3:30 in room 1246 Science Building. I hope to see you there, but if you can’t make it the handout and PowerPoint are available on my new workshops archive page.