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.

The Data & GIS Lab is open for self-service computer use. You can also request remote access to virtual computers which have the same software as the physical computers or 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 available for use within the lab. Our most powerful computer is the Datacruncher computer. We also offer remote access to a pool of remote computers. Request remote access.

Reserve the Datacruncher computer

Software

The lab has specialized software which cannot be found anywhere else on campus.

Abbyy Finereader
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

NVivo 12
Stata/MP 15
Tableau 2018.2

Amy Work — Data & GIS Librarian
Contact Me

Stephanie Labou — Data Science Librarian
Contact Me

Resources to help you with your research

GIS & Geospatial Technologies Guide
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