GIS Data
in the UW Libraries and Beyond
Spring 2007
gis@lib.washington.edu
Overview
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Libraries Services
Data collections
How to find data
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Washington State sources
Regional sources
State statistical sources (briefly)
Census sources
Federal sources
And how to find it if you don’t see it…
Metadata
Libraries Services
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GIS Service Policy:
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"The Libraries provides UW students,
faculty and staff with access to geographic
information systems (GIS) software and
data owned by the Libraries…When
requesting data, please leave a 48-hour
turnaround (work days only) to receive
data... (con’t)
Libraries Services
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(con’t) “Library staff are available to meet
one-on-one with UW students, staff and
faculty, and to assist in retrieving data.
Please contact GIS staff via email at
gis@lib.washington.edu ”
Objectives
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Provide access to GIS and desktop
mapping software
Identify, acquire and provide access to
digital geospatial and statistical data
Help patrons determine their data
needs and assist with locating data
Help patrons incorporate data into
projects
Library staff work with
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Students, staff, faculty
From any campus department
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Geography, Urban Planning, Geology,
Forest Resources, Public Health, English,
History, and others
Public
Software & Equipment
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UW Libraries GIS Lab – G004 Suzzallo
Library
ArcGIS 9.X (ArcView, Arc/Info, older
versions), others
Encarta, MapPoint, Streets & Trips, etc.
20 Machines can be used for data
consultation and time for basic
manipulation before taking data away
Access to color printers, plotters
Collections
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Collection focuses on Seattle, Puget
Sound, Washington State
Also collections for the United States,
international data, individual countries
Data is listed in catalog
Ask if you can’t find it. It might be on
order, or be able to be ordered.
GIS Data
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Types of GIS data
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Social and economic data - Census data,
demographics, government information (local,
state and federal)
Physical-environmental data - geology, hydrology,
etc.
Can include streets, parcel data, rivers, lakes and
drainage, soils, geology, air quality information,
median household income, etc.
Data formats
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Vector (points, lines, polygons) e.g., bus
stops, streets, parcels
Raster (cells) e.g., digital elevation
models
Image, e.g., digital aerial photography,
digital raster graphics
Statistical, e.g., .dbf files, Excel, Access,
.csv, .txt, e.g., assessor’s files
Digital Raster Graphic (DRG)
City of Seattle
Digital Orthophoto
Data producers
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Local governments
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Federal government
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USGS, USFS, US Census
WA State
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Examples: City of Seattle, King, Pierce, Thurston,
Snohomish counties
DNR, DOT, Ecology
Various regional and other organizations, e.g.,
Puget Sound Regional Council
Data Restrictions
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Some is restricted by license agreement
to UW students, staff and faculty only
Full use for academic & research
purposes
Permissions needed for publishing
(includes the Web)
Restrictions
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Much is public domain (anything from US
government, for example)
Can be used for any purpose
No matter the purpose, make sure your
citations are correct:
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Cartographic Citations: A Style Guide, by Suzanne
M. Clark, Mary Lynette Larsgaard, Cynthia M.
Teague. On the Maps Reference Shelf at
GA 108.7 .C55 1992
Finding GIS data
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Introduction to:
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Finding data in UW catalog
Other UW data sites
Washington State sources
State statistical sources (briefly)
Regional Sources
Census sources
Federal Sources
And how to find it if you don’t see it listed…
Acquiring data
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Download
Purchase
Data sharing
Regardless, be aware of:
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Licensing and restrictions
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Public domain vs. private
Washington State sources
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UW Libraries Catalog,
http://catalog.lib.washington.edu
Keywords
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Name of the area you’re interested in, plus
“computer file” and “maps”
e.g.: seattle and computer file and maps
Much public domain data is available
through UW, via interlibrary loan or direct
download
Washington State resources
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http://wagda.lib.washington.edu
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Washington State Geospatial Data Archive.
Data available for downloading, includes
Washington DEMs, Washington geology,
Seattle, King County, etc.
Primarily Arc/Info, ArcView formats
Washington State resources
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Washington State Geospatial Clearinghouse,
wa-node.gis.washington.edu
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Like a library catalog
Links to WA-created metadata, some
downloadable data
Connects to international (searchable) network of
metadata nodes
Other state clearinghouses
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Eg, Alaska (http://agdc.usgs.gov/) and Georgia
(http://www.gis.state.ga.us/)
Washington State resources
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Subject-tree guide to subjects in library
www.lib.washington.edu/subject/
Map Collection homepage
www.lib.washington.edu/subject/maps/
Data contacts page for Washington State
wagda.lib.washington.edu/datacontacts/
Washington State sources
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GIS Data Depot,
www.gisdatadepot.com
Terraserver, terraserver.microsoft.com
(photos can now be used in GIS,
instructions:
wagda.lib.washington.edu/data/doqs.ht
ml)
Washington State sources
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Department of Transportation,
www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/geodatacatalo
g/default.htm
Office of Financial Management,
www.ofm.wa.gov/geographic/index.htm
Ecology,
www.ecy.wa.gov/services/gis/index.html
Health, http://198.187.3.168/gis/default.htm
WA GAP,
www.wa.gov/wdfw/wlm/gap/dataprod.htm
Washington State sources
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To purchase:
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WA Department of Natural Resources
USGS: earthexplorer.usgs.gov
Contact various counties directly (some sell
data, some give it away free, some seek
data swaps)
State statistical data
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Good first source for many topics:
access.wa.gov
www.lib.washington.edu/subject/GovLaw/
Various US government sites, for example
www.epa.gov
Government Publications (Libraries)
CSSCR, Center for Social Science
Computation and Research,
http://julius.csscr.washington.edu/
Regional Data Sources
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Examples of water/fish-related
information:
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Interior Columbia Ecosystem Management
Project, www.icbemp.gov/spatial/
Streamnet, www.streamnet.org
Fish Passage Center,
www.fpc.org/links.html
Census GIS data on the web
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Population data
www.census.gov/population/www/index.html
Housing data
www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing.html
Census geography data in general
www.census.gov/geo/www/index.html
www.esri.com/censuswatch
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TIGER/Line data in particular
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/
Federal Sources
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Different agencies with different foci:
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FCC, http://www.fcc.gov/oet/info/maps/
BIA, http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indianaffairs.html
USF&W, http://wetlands.fws.gov/downloads.htm
Branches within agencies. (USGS, EPA):
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USGS global land characterization,
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/programs/lccp/globalla
ndcover.html
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Hazards/DataSets/Washi
ngton/framework.html
US EPA data management and analysis
Federal Sources
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Specific, individual reports, such as USGS Open File
Reports, http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/
National Soil Survey Center (USDA),
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/soilsurvey/
NEPAnet, National Environmental Policy Act
http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/nepanet.htm
National Map Seamless Data Distribution System
http://seamless.usgs.gov/
Finding GIS data on the web
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Directories and search engines:
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http://gis.about.com/ (directory)
www.google.com (search engine)
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(also, www.altavista.com, www.hotbot.com,
and many others)
Search engines
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Keywords: name of the area you’re interested
in, plus terms like:
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GIS, Shapefile, Coverage, .e00, Download, Data
Example: washington state and gis
Example:
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Salmon and gis and washington state
Salmon and gis and pacific northwest
Salmon and gis
Local GIS groups
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Central Puget Sound GIS User Group,
cps-gis@u.washington.edu. List as well
as monthly meetings.
The Northwest GIS User Group
(formerly ESRI-NW)
www.nwesriusers.org, yearly
conference
International GIS groups
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ESRI-L, ArcView-L
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Invaluable for technical assistance and
data questions (some support requires paid
access). See support.esri.com/
Many other lists available, some softwarespecific, others discipline-specific. See
lists.directionsmag.com/discussion/ for lists
and searchable archives.
Other sources
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Commercial vendors (ESRI, of course)
Ask local GIS users and other
colleagues
Research groups, nonprofits, other
colleges/universities
Libraries, academic and otherwise
Listservs
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Arcview-l
ESRI-l
MapInfo-l
GIS in public health
Many, many more. See the list of lists at
www.directionsmag.com/discussion,
with searchable archives and
subscription information for each
Organizations
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Organizations
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www.urisa.org / www.waurisa.org
www.esri.com (search Your Speciality,
conference proceedings)
ESRI-NW, Pacific Salmon Information
Network, etc.
Other vendors, www.mapinfo.com
Other associations’ conference proceedings
After downloading…
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Unzipping (www.winzip.com)
Importing, changing format
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http://www.gisdatadepot.com/helpdesk/formats.ht
ml
Check your software’s translation capabilities
Attaching attribute information
Remember to use your software’s help files!
Some more help:
wagda.lib.washington.edu/help/faq.html
Metadata
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Metadata is “data about the data”
Shows lineage, data quality, methods,
modifications, etc.
Helps determine “fitness for use”
It’s imperative to get this for every
data set you download!
Clearinghouse & USGS DEM Example
Needs Assessment
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Lists a few points to consider before
you start looking for data
Write these down and take a document
to the map librarian – easier for them to
understand what you want, when you
have a good idea of what you want
Ask for help: gis@lib.washington.edu
Other GIS help on campus
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Main UW GIS site at
http://gis.washington.edu
Software and analysis questions to
help@gis.washington.edu
Data questions to
gis@lib.washington.edu