GIS Day at Ball State University Libraries

GIS Day 2015 at Ball State University Libraries

GIS Day is celebrated around the world on Wednesday, November 18.  The Ball State University GIS Knowledge Group will be hosting a public GIS presentation and student poster competition in the Schwartz Digital Complex just off the lobby of Bracken Library from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

According to ESRI, the world’s preeminent producer of mapping software, geographic information system (GIS) lets users visualize, question, analyze, and interpret data to understand relationships, patterns, and trends.  GIS benefits organizations of all sizes and in almost every industry. 

Colin Rose, Lead Research Assistant and PhD. candidate in the Department of History at the University of Toronto, will be presenting about the DECIMA project.  DECIMA (Digitally Encoded Census Information and Mapping Archive) is a powerful tool integrating a wide variety of social and economic historical data into a visualized spatial framework.  The talk will be from 3:00 to 4:00 pm in Bracken Library room 104 across from the Schwartz Digital Complex.

A student-created poster competition and exhibit will feature some of the innovative GIS projects of Ball State University students.  From 2:00 to 3:00 pm attendees can view the student-created research posters and vote for a favorite, discover more information about the GIS Knowledge Group, and browse the available GIS software and data resources on campus.

Students who wish to enter the GIS poster competition should contact Angie Gibson, Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Specialist.  (Awards will be presented for the top two posters).

The GIS Day event is free and open to the public.  The event is sponsored by the Ball State University Department of History; Office of the Dean, College of Sciences and Humanities; Office of the Associate Vice President for Research; Department of Geography; and University Libraries.

For more information, about the GIS Day event or using GIS software, please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection at 765-285-1097.