End-of-Semester Printing and GIS Project Information

FAQ: “How Do I Print a Large Poster?”  “How Do I Connect to Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Data Server?”

Students are completing many final projects and homework assignments for the fall semester.  Often students must create presentations or large posters as a final project.  The Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has two large-format plotter printers available for use by members of the Ball State University community.

“How do I print a large poster?  How long does it take?  How much does it cost?”  Students can create a poster using a slide designed in Microsoft PowerPoint.  A guide explaining how to design a classroom or conference poster is available in Cardinal Scholar. 

A poster usually takes about fifteen minutes to print, but if many people are printing at the same time, the wait time will be longer.  Students and staff are charged for printing through their Bursar’s account, with the cost dependent on the size of the poster.  Printing on the plotters is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

One of the most frequently asked questions in the GRMC arises from students trying to access the Libraries’ GIS Data Server in order to complete a GIS homework assignment or special project.

Members of the Ball State University community can access this data by entering user names and passwords if not already logged in to the Ball State University network: 

• In order to map a network drive, click on the Start button; right-click "Computer;" then click "Explore."
• In the Tools menu or on the Graphical User Interface (GUI), click "Map Network Drive."
• In the Drive box, click the drive letter "L."  (Note: By default ArcGIS Desktop uses full path names. Always map data to the same letter drive in order to avoid having to repair the data source when opening a map document).
• In the Folder box, type \\libgis\data.  (If not logged in to the BSU network, a BSU user name and password will be needed to access this data).

The data on this server is read-only, so needed datasets must be copied and pasted (using ArcCatalog) to an iLocker folder or a USB drive.  Also, the data on the server was provided by the Delaware and Henry County GIS Departments and must be used for education and research purposes only and may not be provided to third parties.

A tutorial with screenshots explaining how to map to the GIS Data Server is available on the GRMC Webpage.  For more information about using GIS, please contact Angela Gibson, GIS Specialist, at 765-285-1097.