The Future of
GIS Services in
Academic Libraries:
Exploring the Next Step
Christine Kollen, Geography & Maps
Librarian, Social Sciences Team,
University of Arizona Library
Living the Future 6 -- April 6, 2006
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Outline
 History of GIS in Libraries
 Current focus
 Changes effecting GIS in libraries
 Trends in academic libraries
 Changes at UA
 Acquiring geospatial data
 Beyond the Arizona Electronic Atlas
 Next Steps
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History of GIS in Libraries
 Libraries see advantages in the early 1990s as GIS software
becomes more user friendly
 Partnership between ESRI (GIS software producer) and ARL -ARL GIS Literacy Project (1992) provides training in GIS
software and access to spatial data
 Libraries are starting to provide web access to geospatial data
to create maps and to provide access to data
 Examples include:
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Massachusetts Electronic Atlas (morphed into) the Harvard
Geospatial Library
Washington State Geospatial Data Archive
Inside Idaho (University of Idaho)
University of Virginia GeoStat
University of Connecticut’s MAGIC collection
University of Arizona’s Arizona Electronic Atlas
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UA Library’s GIS History
 UA became involved with the ARL GIS Literacy
Project and offered GIS services in 1996
 Developed GeoFac in 1998 in response to
student requests for help with the software
 Developed the Arizona Electronic Atlas in 2004
in response to student comments about
GeoFac
 Went from geospatial data on CD-ROM and
access to GIS software through one designated
computer to currently providing access from all
computers in the Information Commons (Main,
Science-Engineering, and Fine Arts Libraries)
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What are other
ARL Libraries doing?
SPEC Kit on Spatial Data Collections & Services (Dec.
2005) reported:
 Growth in no. of locations offering spatial data support on
campuses
 Shift to disciplines beyond geography
 Challenges reported include: data collection and data
licensing for digital data; processing and storage of
electronic formats and online maps
 Increase in responsibilities for cataloging & acquisition
 Half report increase in reference & instruction
 Most have seen an increase in spatial data users
 Increase in use of digital spatial data
 Some report decrease in GIS software consultation,
students & faculty are pretty independent
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Other Academic Libraries
Survey of implementation and use of GIS in 128
smaller academic libraries
 Out of 138 responses, 22 have adopted GIS in
their library and 28 are planning to in the near
future
 The survey focused on hardware & software,
staffing, levels of service, training, monetary
support, and use in the implementation of GIS
 Difficult to get started with providing GIS
services without also obtaining outside funding
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Campus GIS Environment
 GIS services the Library provides strongly
related to what GIS classes and services are
available on campus and their needs
 School of Natural Resources’ Advanced
Resources Technology group has operated a
GIS lab since 1988
 School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
opened a GIS lab in 1999
 More classes are being taught that utilize GIS
software – desktop GIS and internet
applications
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UA Advanced Resources
Technology (ART) Group
Part of the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences
 Units on campus with GIS spatial needs are
coming to ART
 Requests for application development – such
as using hand-helds to gather field data
 Newly approved GIS certification for graduate
students (jointly administered between ART &
Geography)
 In classes, students are created ArcIMS
projects
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Center for Applied Spatial
Analysis (CASA)
 In the College of Social and Behavioral
Sciences (SBS). Similar mission as ART but
not as developed
 Faculty and graduate students in SBS come to
them for assistance/training
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GeoVisualization Lab
 New lab (fall 2005) in the Dept. of Geography
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and Regional Development
Combines research, teaching, and collaboration
with the community
Lab is mainly for faculty that teach urban
revitalization and public funding projects
Work with community groups to help them
address an issue or problem
Help community develop GIS skills
Students in the classes develop ArcIMS sites
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Current Focus at UA Library
 Arizona Electronic Atlas
 Acquiring geospatial data
 Providing GIS software and data help
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Changes that are effecting
GIS in Libraries
 GIS is evolving to a federated technology – will
be distributed and federated
 Organized in metadata catalogs requiring
interoperability and content guidelines
 Increased availability of online geospatial data
especially for the United States – as an
example the release of the U.S.Geological
Survey National Map
 GIS for the Nation – participants from NGOs,
federal, state, local & universities
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Changes that are effecting
GIS in Libraries (cont.)
 Online interactive mapping, such as
MapQuest
 Google’s release of Google Earth and
Google Map’s APIs
 Integration of GIS into non-geography
classes
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What trends do other
ARL Libraries see?
 Overall demand is growing
 Increase in spatial data acquisition and
user demand for GIS reference services
 Increase in conversion of analog
materials to digital
 Increase in acquiring foreign digital
geospatial data
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What are other ARL
Libraries planning?
 Explore data acquisition & discovery strategies
 Add more staff
 Change in Service goals – assistance in locating data,
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selecting the appropriate use of spatial data instead of how to
use the software
Promote GIS to users from disciplines new to GIS
More BI and GIS projects, larger web presence through
ArcIMS projects
Collection development policy for acquiring geospatial data
Tools to facilitate collaboration between data users, scholars,
and the community.
Investigate usability of geospatial tools for searching
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Map Libraries in Transition
 Conference sponsored by Cartographic Users
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Advisory Council was held last May
Wonderful opportunity for Geography, Map, &
GIS Librarians to come together to hear talks
focused on maps/spatial data, to discuss issues
of common concern, and how we can
collaborate
One result was to develop a map scanning
registry
How can the individual organizations work more
effectively together?
Hold this conference more frequently
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Future Direction & Needs of
GIS at UA campus
 GIS certification for graduate students
 GeoServ – portal to three UA sites: ART,
CASA, Arizona Remote Sensing Center
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Add Atlas later if concept is proven
Add Arizona state agencies
 Data needs include online access to
spatial data of Mexico and current street
level data for Arizona with geocoding
abilities
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Needs Assessment of the
Arizona Electronic Atlas
Needs assessment as part of Atlas
Business Plan last year
 Emphasis on community outreach -translating research that we do at the
University into a language that the public
can understand.
 Go beyond mapping to develop
mechanisms or tools to help users make
decisions
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Atlas Needs Assessment (cont)
 Data and data-related needs for research:
More local data, federal data, border data
(into Mexico)
 More collaboration and networking across
various departments on campus to obtain
datasets
 Develop static maps that could easily be used
in classes
 Develop more interdisciplinary map themes in
the Atlas such as Environmental Justice
 Resource that helps teach geographic concepts
such as scale, projection, use of color
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Changes at the UA Libraries
 UA Libraries this past year has
reorganized in order to be more flexible
and able to deal with changes in the
environment
 One of our new cross-functional teams,
Delivery & Access investigated how the
Library should deal with data sets and is
also administering a fund for new and
continuing Digital Initiatives
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Future Directions at the
University of Arizona Library
 Move from providing assistance with GIS
software (most students no longer need
help)
 Provide online access to spatial data
 Continue to provide access to mapping
Arizona data through the Atlas
 Going beyond the Atlas – more
collaboration on campus through new
initiatives
 Digitizing aerial photography
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Acquiring Geospatial Data
 Faculty and students in general are requesting
that more and more information be available
online
 A lot of U.S. geospatial data is available online
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Exceptions include current streets and local data
 Majority of information published by the federal
government is available online – maps are not
 Country data is needed
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Deciding what to purchase (take into account the
cost and licensing)
 Spatial data for Mexico and other Latin
American countries
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Decision Support Tools &
Translating Science for the Public
 Move to go beyond ArcIMS applications
such as the Atlas to create more of a
decision support tool
 Need to translate science occurring at
the universities into information the
public can use
 Example: Geography’s GeoVisualization
Lab and use of CommunityViz
 Example: Arid Land’s WALTER site
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New Initiative
 Need outside funding to move forward
with the Atlas
 Importance of collaborating with other
units on campus
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Importance of identifying units with similar
interests and challenges
 ClimateView
 How is the approach to ClimateView
different than the Atlas?
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What’s Next?
 Work with groups on campus to integrate
the use of ClimateView into the
curriculum
 Move on to other topics of importance to
the campus and the state
 Continue developing these modules that
work with the Atlas and provide key
learning modules
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Questions?
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