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Digital Mapping Tools and Resources: Geographic Information and Technologies

Geographic Information Systems

Welcome to the Maps and Geographic Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. - Theodore Roosevelt. [Theodore Roosevelt, full-length portrait, seated by world globe, facing left] (1905)Information Systems Guide.

Find the latest information on GIS and how to start orienting you ideas spatially.

Geographic Information System includes,

  1. Statistics - Data sets are visualized with layers and oriented geographically.
  2. Optimization - Select, filter and orient the GIS to a particular research topic. 
  3. Numerical Algorithms - enable you to assign data to a geographic reference.

Maps and GIS help us,

Locate, interpret, and visualize site specific data.
Collect and analyze spatially oriented information.
Narrate site characteristics to connect design concepts to community members. 

1. Adapted from Boland, Maeve A. "Geographic Information Systems." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics, edited by Carl Mitcham, vol. 2, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, pp. 856-857. Gale Virtual Reference Library, Accessed 26 Sept. 2017

About Geographic Information and Technologies

Identify Geospatial Data Sources

Narrate with Geospatial Visualizations

Geospatial Training and Careers

Learn More about the Geospatial Science, Theory, and Practice

Create your own GIS with these Map Tools

What is Felt?

Web-based GIS mapping platform.  - free with limited options enables, 

  • Easy upload of geospatial file formats for quick layering
  • Collaborate with others in real-time

 

What is Green Maps OGM2?

Here are six great sources of information and inspiration to help you get the most out of these tools.

  1. 🚀At GreenMap.org, under Resources, go to our Platform quick guide. Read more about the Website Builder tools under Manage Your Data > Spaces and > Pages. This Guide has loads of helpful information on setting up a map, a survey and using icons, too.

  2. 👀 Take a look at the Grow Dundee website built using the website builder tools. This is a place where a network of community growing projects share information about local gardens, volunteer and event information.

  3. 🤓 Read our article about the website builder and why we have developed the tools. We’ll soon add short videos here.

  4. 👐 Share information with your group. You can access the intro slides from the website builder session here>

What is GrassGIS?

The Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (https://grass.osgeo.org/), commonly referred to as GRASS GIS, is an Open Source Geographic Information System providing powerful raster, vector and geospatial processing capabilities. It can be used either as a stand-alone application or as backend for other software packages such as QGIS and R or in the cloud. It is distributed freely under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). GRASS GIS is a founding member of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

What is Leaflet?

  • Uses javascript. Code heavy with endless capability. 

  • Free. Open Source.

What is OpenStreetMap?

"OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data about roads, trails, cafĂŠs, railway stations, and much more, all over the world." 

Get Started with OpenStreetMap

  1. Register to become an editor
  2. Complete editor training
  3. Choose a location and start improving the world's geolocation. 

OpenStreetMaps US hosts an entire community with conferences, training, mapping games, and historical information


View Larger Map

News from OpenStreetMaps US

  • Launching the OSM US Microgrant Program!This link opens in a new windowApr 1, 2025

    There’s some big news from the OpenStreetMap US Team – funding is now available to support our members’ mapping and community building efforts! OSM US is thrilled to announce OpenStreetMap US Microgrants, a new program for investing directly in the people growing the OpenStreetMap community in the United States. Applications for the first round of microgrants open today, so read on and learn how you can apply!

    What activities are funded?

    There are three opportunities for funding through OSM US Microgrants:

    Travel: Travel Grants are available to support the transportation, lodging, and registration costs for folks speaking about OpenStreetMap at conferences, symposiums, or other professional or academic networking events around the country. Learn more about the Travel Grant ➔

    Events: Event Grants are available to new and existing local OpenStreetMap community groups to fund the cost of advertisement, food, space and equipment rental, and other expenses related to hosting meetups, mapathons, mappy hours, and training sessions. Learn more about the Event Grant ➔

    Education: In collaboration with TeachOSM, Education Grants are available for two or more academic institutions or organizations looking to collaborate (either virtually or in person) on a mapping project to engage students. Learn more about the Education Grant ➔

    OpenStreetMap US is hoping to support newly formed local mapping groups, folks sharing their OSM-based research, educators bringing OSM into their classrooms, and many more mappers across the US!

    Do I need to meet any requirements?

    There are a few requirements all grantees must meet to ensure the financial sustainability of this new program and that support goes to the US mapping community:

    1. Someone must be an active member of OpenStreetMap US (at any tier) both at the time of application, and the time of your grant-funded activities.
      1. If applying for a Travel Grant, you must meet the requirement as an OSM US invididual member.
      2. If applying for the Event Grant on behalf of a community group, one member of the group must meet the requirement as an OSM US individual member.
      3. If applying for the Education Grant, either one educator or organizer can meet the requirement as an OSM US individual member or one of the participating institutions or organizations can meet the requirement as an organizational member.
    2. Your grant-funded activities must occur within the United States. Virtual events funded through the Events Grant can be open to international participants, but must be US-focused.

    Each grant category has their own additional requirements and guidelines, which you can review on their respective webpages.

    How can I apply?

    First, look at the grant cycles available this year and determine which application season aligns with your planned event or travel. OpenStreetMap US will not fund any activity that has already occurred by the time of application or grantee notification, so please keep that in mind when applying!

    Here is the grant cycle timeline for 2025:

    Cycle Application opens Application closes Grantees notified by
    Spring April 2 May 5 June 3
    Summer July 7 August 4 September 8
    Fall October 6 November 3 December 1

    Second, decide which microgrant you’d like to apply for (Events, Travel, or Education) and review the dedicated webpage for that grant detailing specific information you’ll need to know before applying. You may submit an application for more than one grant category in a cycle, but they must not be intended to fund the same event or travel.

    Finally, fill out the application form! OpenStreetMap US can’t wait to see what ideas, projects, and opportunities land in our inbox!

    Grant applications are reviewed and selected on a quarterly basis. Please see the program webpage for the 2025 application deadlines and other relevant information. All grants are awarded at the discretion of the OSM US staff and Board of Directors. Questions? Email grants@openstreetmap.us.

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Creating 3D maps from Learning QGIS by Gordon Luckett

Additional Courses of Interest:

What is ArcGIS StoryMaps?

Get Started with ArcGIS StoryMaps

  1. Visit ArcGIS Story Maps (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/)
  2. Sign Up for an Individual Account using your @nyit.edu Gmail.
  3. There are multiple ways to begin your story. Start with an Express Map to build a place-based presentation. Layer in text and images.

TIP: Compile your story content in a simple spreadsheet before building out the StoryMap.

Social Explorer

Get Started with Social Explorer;

Create maps and data reports based on historical and modern census data at all geographic levels 

Upload your data and layer it with features and demographics.

Create an account so you can save and publish maps. 

  1. Click on Maps 
  2. Select Start Now.  You'll see a default map of the United States
  3. Enter a location into the search box.
  4. Pull down Show Data By and change it to your geography (county, place, census tract, etc.). Place refers to both cities and unincorporated areas.
  5. Select the Change Data button
  6. Browse by Category or Survey
    1. Browse by Category (tutorial): Use the slider bar to select a Census year and category.  Not all categories are available for each census year as some questions are added or dropped from survey to survey
    2. Browse by Survey (tutorial): Shows a list of all available data variables by Census year  
  7. Creating a Project to enhance your map with text and images.
  8. Invite Group Members to Collaborate by Share > Email Collaborators.

Map of Clinton Hill neighborhood including coastal flooding, open space, and housing data,

Video Tutorials:

Historical Maps

Typically large-scale maps, dating back to the 1500s, historical maps serve as primary research artifacts.
Fire Insurance Maps cover the United States, Canada, and Mexico from 1800s to the present and About the Sanborn Maps at the Library of Congress

Locating Spatial Data

Locating Spatial Data & Information

TIPS FOR LOCATING GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION

• Look in general GIS data repositories
• Search the internet – Include “gis”, or “data” in the search terms AND Search by location and/or topic
• Search for governmental (see below) statistical agencies or open data sites from local to global perspective.
• Contact GIS departments, universities, or researchers in your area of interest.
• Search for articles on your topic and look for the sources of the data.

Global Dataset Search Engines

National

State

County and City Data Portals

  • Locate County and Municipal Data on the Web, use search terms, "geospatial" "Open Data" "GIS" plus the municipality name (County, State, or Province) to locate these data repositories.
  • Use translation to navigate pages from local governments often written in different languages.
  • Know that topics including Environment, Business and Economy, Food and Housing, GIS, Infrastructure, Health, Boundaries, Culture and Education are often similar but not standardized. 

Example Collections:

Open Municipal Government Data

Open Government Data initiatives promote "transparency, accountability, and value creation by making government data available to all" (OECD.org). Evaluate datasets found through open data portals as you would information sources. MĂĄchovĂĄ, Hub, Lnenicka recommend searchers consider the following criteria when selecting and searching government data:

- Are data sets organized in understandable categories?
- A complete list of datasets.
- Is there someone to contact to request a specific data set.
- Can you search according to category, publisher, format?
- Can you filter data sets in order to limit what you need to extract?
- Can you process data sets in a common structure such as CSV, JSON, or RDF?
- Do you need to register an account in order to access datasets?

MĂĄchovĂĄ, R., Hub, M., & Lnenicka, M. (2018). Usability evaluation of open data portals: Evaluating data discoverability, accessibility, and reusability from a stakeholders’ perspective. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 70(3), 252-268. http://dx.doi.org.arktos.nyit.edu/10.1108/AJIM-02-2018-0026

Example Thematic GIS & Maps

Urban Heat Islands

Land Cover 

Includes Trees and Green Space

Demographics

Example Maps Collections with GIS visual analysis tools

United States

Canada

Get started with Maps in Rhino

Geospatial Organizations and Standards

Geospatial Community

Books About Mapping and GIS

Journals on GIS and Geospatial Technology

See Also, related guides...

GIS Training

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