A very spatial session

Meg Miller - GIS & Research Visualization Librarian


workspace: bit.ly/uml_map

Outline


  1. What is GIS?
  2. Things to consider when working on a mapping project
  3. Research visualization and Campus Libraries
  4. Let's make a map! (workshop)

What is GIS?

Geographic Information System

Any system used to analyze, capture or work with information you would display with a map (aka geospatial data).

1. What data types are used in GIS


Data Types: Textual

Screenshot of a table

Usually open formats like .csv, geojson, ascii...)

Data Types: Vector (point, line, polygon)


points, lines and areas

Each point has an x,y (lat/long) coordinate pair associated with it (.shp, .svg, .dxf...)

Data Types: Raster

screenshot of a raster image

A grid made of cells/ pixels(.jpg, .tiff, .grid, .rast, .ecw…)

Data Types: APIs (Application Programming Interface)

screenshot of a service image

A set of rules for how software can exchange data(local or remote, web services are a subset)

2. Then what is 'doing GIS'


Using a program specific example:


"GIS enabled historical consciousness"

Sasha Mullally- UNB History Dept.

3. What is visual encoding (and why should I care)


Mapping data variables to visual cues


In data visualization/ mapping, this means constructing our data to be represented by visual elements like size, colour, length and placement.

Colour- Unconscious perceptions

  1. Red is bad, green is good;

  2. Light blue shapes on maps are water;

  3. Light colours represent less, dark more...

Note:

Be engaged (and beware of 'universal truths').






Thanks to Vanessa Lillie, Cary Miller, Lyle Ford and Elder Valdie Seymour
for their insight in the following section.

Be engaged

  1. Data visualization theory is a colonial construct;

  2. Colour has connotation outside of your own world view;

  3. Your voice has power.

Popular processes:

  1. Digitization of maps/images;
  2. Reconstruction of features from the past or present;
  3. Georeferencing microdata ;
  4. Revealing trends ;
  5. Allowing others to build off your work.

3. How can Libraries support me


Library Support:

Librarian Support

Subject Guides

Esri (ArcGIS) software access

Training opportunities

Tool Choice


points, lines and areas

Key Points:

  • Your expertise - be kind to your future self (time etc.)
  • Purpose - exploratory vs. explanatory
  • Audience - expertise, needs, support
  • Data requirements - size, residency, privacy...

5. Why bother sewing a map


Hands-on: From there to here – Making a meaningful map without a computer

Workshop content

Data Physicalization: Research area that studies the use of physical artifacts to convey data (1). Samples: Data physicalization wiki , Instagram...

Critical Making: A practice that unites critical thinking and hands-on experiments to encourage learning by doing (2). A reconnection of two modes of engagement with the world that are typically held separate: critical thinking, traditionally understood as conceptually and linguistically based, and physical ‘making’, goal-based material work (3).
Considerations: Sustainability, Accessibility...

Questions


meg.miller@umanitoba.ca

workspace: bit.ly/uml_map