Geographic Information Systems

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are systems for connecting data to maps. This might involve mapping drive-by-shootings or murals across Los Angeles, or U.S. Congress voting patterns by state. There are many GIS systems available, although I believe ESRI’s ARCinfo is site licensed at UCLA. Google’s Maps and the programming interface they released have boosted popular interest in GIS.

• http://www.gis.com/
• http://www.esri.com/
• UCLA Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Resource Center
• UCLA GIS mailing list.
  http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gis-l
• UCLA Site License with ESRI and 2006-07 Order Form
• GIS Jobs Clearinghouse
• http://gislounge.com/
• http://del.icio.us/tag/mapping – a collection of shared bookmarks all using the tag “mapping”

There is interest in forming sort of a UCLA GIS users group to do some or all of the following. Contact Brian Won in Geography if you’re interested.

• grab interested Geog Grad students to meet weekly (or more
  often)
• work on GIS projects together
• store and share notes
• search for ArcGIS Tutorials and link them from the wiki
• invite guest speakers
• compare project notes