From navigating through the streets of unfamiliar cities to finding that bag we left at the coffee shop the other day, geospatial technologies are so intertwined in our lives that we hardly even notice. Behind every Google map route, every weather report, and every census statistic is a network of geospatial technologies and ideas.
At Lafayette College, scholars across the humanities, engineering, and the social and natural sciences apply geospatial technologies in their work to analyze, visualize, interpret, and address some of the most complex questions we face. Examples of these technologies include geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), and remote sensing.
Central to this work, Skillman Library offers services related to GIScience, and the college IT group supports various software. The college maintains licensing to ESRI products, but also uses other open source software.
What is a GIS? The following links provide insight into this question, from multiple perspectives
From ESRI, a GIS software developer. (External Link to ESRI.com)
From the United States Geological Survey (External Link to USGS.gov)
From the American Historical Association (External link to Historians.org)
From the National Science Foundation (External Link to NSF.gov)