GIS Services at the Library

Are you a new GIS user or do you just want to know more about it? 

• GIS stands for geographic information system.  The term "GIS" describes a variety of software and hardware tools and processes that include some type of geographical information component.
   
• GIS is used in a number of disciplines -- physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities scholars are increasingly applying GIS approaches to their research questions.
   
• There are, broadly speaking, two main components of any GIS platform: the data and the visualization.The "geographic" part of GIS means that the main visualization will be map-based.
   
• The data can come from within the GIS software, uploaded from other data sources, or collected as part of a your research project.
   
• Your library has many resources that will support your motivation to learn about how GIS technology can help you work and research more effectively.  The Esri platform ArcGIS has been a leading tool in the field for many decades. The Claremont Colleges Library has an Esri site license that allows Claremont Colleges students, faculty, and staff access to those tools. 

Section of drone imagery with GPS mapping of woodrat burrows from the Bernard Field Station project. 

There are several options for getting started with GIS. At the library and other campus GIS labs, you are likely to find the Esri ArcGIS tools to be the best supported. But open source options (such as QGIS) also exist.