Data & GIS Lab
The Data & GIS Lab is the place to get specialized, hands-on assistance with data and GIS software. We can help you find, manage, analyze, and visualize geospatial, numeric, and textual data.
COVID-19
The lab is currently closed to in-person access. Request remote access to the lab.We are not currently offering drop-in appointments. Please schedule an appointment with a librarian.
Consultations
Student assistants are available to answer quick questions or provide in-depth consultations on a variety of analytical and geospatial tools. Assistants can also provide an orientation to the lab, including hours, uses, hardware, and software. No appointments required! Student assistants can also provide referrals to specific librarians as needed.
Example GIS Questions We Can Help With
- How do I map a list of addresses or latitude / longitude coordinates?
- My data doesn't align in ArcGIS, what now?
- I'm stuck on a workflow for my GIS analysis, I don't know what to do next
- I don't want a border on my map, how do I get rid of it?
- How do I store my GIS files: as shapefiles or as a geodatabase?
Example Data-Related Questions We Can Help With
- My data are in a weird file format, how can I convert it to a more usable format?
- How do I work with data in SAS/Stata/SPSS/R/Python?
- My data analysis code throws an error - how do I fix it?
- I need help using a package in R/Python!
- What tools/methods are available for text mining and visualizing textual data?
Hardware and Software
Is your laptop insufficient for your data, GIS, and digital scholarship projects? Are you running out of memory or is it taking way too long for software to finish your analysis? Come use the lab computers! We have 5 desktop computers and 5 laptops available for use within the lab. Our most powerful computer is the Datacruncher computer.
Reserve the Datacruncher computer
Software
The lab has specialized software which cannot be found anywhere else on campus.
All Lab Machines
- Agisoft Metashape Standard
- Anaconda Python
- ArcGIS Business Analyst
- ArcGIS Desktop 10.7.1
- ArcGIS Pro
- Google Earth Pro
- Datastream (Thompson)
- QGIS
- R 3.5.2
- R Studio
- SAS 9.4
- SketchUp 2019
- SPSS
- Stat/Transfer
Datacruncher Machine Only
- Atlas.ti (8.3)
- NVivo 12
- PDF2XL Enterprise
- Stata/MP 15
- Tableau 2018.2
Resources to help you with your research
- GIS Data and tutorials
- Finding Data & Statistics guide
- Digital Media Lab: 3D printing, virtual reality, or other media creation
- Research Data Curation Program. depositing data in repositories, large file transfer, assigning digital object identifiers (DOIs), and other data management needs
- Reach out to Mathstorm: Graduate Mathematics Consulting Group: for methodological or advanced statistical questions
- Library supported workshops