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Presentations


Workshop 1: Getting started with open-source GIS software

Presenter: Jay Brodeur

Efforts by the open-source GIS community over the past decade have significantly advanced the functionality and usability of open-source GIS software. With ongoing development and integration of packages such as QGIS, GRASS, SAGA and GDAL, students, researchers and professionals alike have access to a wide variety of powerful (and free!) analysis and mapping tools. As such, libraries have an opportunity to promote and support use of these resources among patrons requiring comparable alternatives to commercial GIS products.

Using QGIS as the software of focus, this hands-on workshop will introduce participants to a number of open-source GIS software packages, and demonstrate how they can be integrated to support various needs. Additionally, we will discuss how these packages can be supported and promoted within libraries.


Workshop 2: Getting more out of GeoNB

Presenters: Bernie Connors, Julie McKay

GeoNB is the name adopted by the Province of New Brunswick to describe its approach to the creation, maintenance, and distribution of geographic information. GeoNB encourages the creation of geographic information resources collected, maintained, and distributed to accepted standards and shared amongst all users within the Province to support decision making and to reduce duplication of effort. GeoNB is a dynamic, constantly evolving geomatics-based infrastructure that is intended to become an interface to “all things geographic” in New Brunswick. GeoNB’s goal is to make all geographic information and related applications easy to find, access and use.

GeoNB provides free map data, imagery, elevation data, online maps, applications and more. Please join us for a hands-on workshop that will cover:

A workshop booklet will be provided. All attendees are encouraged to bring their own laptop, mouse, and smartphone (or another mobile device). A few laptops will be provided but please bring your own if possible.


The importance of thinking small

Presenter: Dr. Paul Peters, University of New Brunswick

My talk will look at a few of my projects that analyse population change in small areas, both urban and rural. My work is spatial in nature, so there is a strong data visualization and mapping component. I’m also a data and methods person, so I spend a fair bit of time on these aspects of my work.


Taking the historical maps of Grand Lake Meadows online

Presenters: Heather McGrath, Emmanuel Stefanakis, University of New Brunswick

Grand Lake Meadows (GLM) is a historically and ecologically significant wetland in New Brunswick. This area is known for its diverse ecology, abundant wildlife, system of freshwater rivers and lakes, rich soil and moderated climate. These are some of the reasons which may explain why human settlers have been attracted to GLM since the early 1600s. This research studied Grand Lake Meadows through the analysis of historical maps held at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. The map analysis aimed to uncover previously unknown societal and geomorphological information about the area. Maps from the study area were identified in collections of microfilm and microfiche and were digitally scanned, analyzed, and georeferenced. The digital versions have been posted on the internet and made accessible through dynamic web-based map mashups using OpenLayers and Web Map Services. A series of supporting web pages were created to encourage site visitors to explore the GLM historical maps through a series of puzzles and quizzes created with Hypertext Preprocessor, JavaScript, and Scalable Vector Graphics. The website aims to support existing initiatives of the Grand Lake Meadows Project Management Committee which promote awareness and the significance of this area and blend historical maps with present day mapping. Funding support for this research was provided by the Grand Lake Meadows Endowment Fund.


Examining neighbourhood change in the Map & Data Library

Presenter: Jordan Hale, University of Toronto

In this session, I review a workshop for youth that I designed with the dual purpose of developing geographic research skills and familiarizing them with the special collections of the Map & Data Library. Using Canadian census data, GIS, and our collection of aerial photos, students use quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine neighbourhood change over time in the city of Toronto.


Mapping the Second World War: GIS and its practicality with military history

Presenters: Eva Dodsworth, University of Waterloo; Trevor Ford, Wilfrid Laurier University

In recent years, online access to maps has reduced the need to acquire certain maps in print. With an easy way to search for and download specific maps, many libraries have started examining their own map collections in detail, exploring possibilities of either weeding, or digitizing historical maps for the same easy online access. Particularly with large collections of donations that have been for years stored in boxes, these maps may have been forgotten about, or not completely understood, now re-surface and are added to the online pool of historical gems.

A recent mapping project aims to blow the dust off of some Defence Overprints, a collection originally construed by the Canadian, American, and British Armies of the Second World War. The Overprints themselves in most cases included weapon pits, artillery position, trenches and anti-tank defenses – in other cases, especially with overprints on the Netherlands, flooding and canal closures are noted. The Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies (LCMSDS) originally received these overprints in the early 1990s when the Directorate of History and Heritage (DHH) began downsizing their archival holdings from the Second World War. At this same time LCMSDS also received approximately 30,000 Canadian aerial reconnaissance photos of the same locations and time periods as the overprints. Both aerial photos and overprints are extremely rare as most copies have either been destroyed or lost to history. Many of these maps have been digitized and georereferenced and uploaded to mapping sites for public viewing and distribution.

This presentation will showcase these Defence Overprints, demonstrating some of the various online mapping tools that have been tried and tested to share the maps with the public.


The figures, maps & photos of the ACMLA / ACACC Bulletin over the years: What do they tell us?

Presenter: daniel Brendle-Moczuk

The Bulletin of the ACMLA / ACACC (and its various previous names) has been published since 1968.

There are numerous figures, maps & photos throughout the many issues. Examining these throughout the Bulletin reveals much about the authors, creators, photographers and the history and trends in the organisation, and in Canada generally, over the years. A number of related questions, and hopefully, answers arise.


Crowdsourcing with ArcGIS Online for data collection and visualization

Presenters: Eva Dodsworth and Markus Wieland, University of Waterloo

The Geospatial Centre, University of Waterloo, has collaborated with the Faculty of Health Sciences to employ ArcGIS Online to conduct public space research. Through the use of the GeoForm Graduates, a configurable web mapping application template, members of the public are invited to geotag areas of interest, upload photos and describe the public spaces that in some way improves their quality of life. The result will be a public ArcGIS Online map of resources displaying the Region of Waterloo’s community spaces that the public finds interesting, amusing, or pleasurable. This paper will discuss the technical aspects of building a crowdsourcing application that is straight forward and light on resources, demonstrating the ease of use of ArcGIS Online for data collection and visualization.


What to do with old GIS formats?: A census data migration project in libraries

Presenter: Amber Leahey, Scholars Portal

Digital data are just as susceptible to loss and degradation as print resources, such as paper maps. Data stored in proprietary data formats are subject to format obsolescence, and often over time, users are required to have working copies of old software on old hardware to read data. Sometimes, data conversion is required to use data in modern software, and this can often be cumbersome, restrictive to researchers, and lead to loss of data in some cases.

Older digital census boundary files made available to the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) community come in spatial data formats that are out-of-date and proprietary (e.g. ArcInfo Interchange E00 format). As time goes on, there will most likely be less support for reading these older data formats, further decreasing the accessibility of this data. To allow for improved access and preservation, together with the University of Toronto Map and Data Library, we are conducting a project to convert older boundaries (1971 to 2001) from original, into Shapefile format.

Digital census boundaries that are converted and digitized are being uploaded to Scholars GeoPortal as open access content. From Scholars GeoPortal, users will be able to view the boundaries online and download them as Shapefiles. Each dataset will have metadata describing the conversion / or digitization process, and, users will be able to download the original data files and documentation.


Making LAC fire insurance plans more easily accessible

Presenters: Rebecca Bartlett and Joël Rivard, Carleton University

Have you ever used the Fire Insurance Plans of your area and found the search interface at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) difficult to use? Did you lament having to use the paper index? Are you tired of only seeing 5 images at a time, especially when you need item 36 of 70? So were we! Using the 1902 fire insurance plans of Ottawa, we’ll demonstrate how we created an interactive online index to allow users to more easily download the fire insurance plans from LAC.


Inside Map Worlds: The personal and social challenges about writing something new

Presenter: Dr. Will C. van den Hoonaard, University of New Brunswick

Most scholars comfortably stick to writing within their field. Writing Map Worlds: A History of Women in Cartography represented surprisingly many personal and social challenges. My presentation offers, I trust, my insights on these challenges.


Géoindex+ : une plateforme géospatiale pour les données de recherche et les données historiques sur le Nord

Presenter: Stéfano Biondo, l'Université Laval

Cette conférence vise à démontrer le potentiel de Géoindex+ pour héberger et diffuser des données géospatiales nordiques historiques et récentes. Ces données sont tirées de documents cartographiques des collections de la Bibliothèque et de données de recherche produites par des chercheurs membres du réseau ArticNet. Géoindex+ est une plateforme de découverte, de visualisation et d’extraction de données géospatiales développée par le Centre d’information géographique et statistique (Centre GéoStat) de la Bibliothèque de l’Université Laval.

Le conférencier présentera brièvement le fonctionnement de Géoindex+ ainsi que son potentiel pour la valorisation des données de recherche et des données historiques nordiques à l’aide de trois exemples.

Le premier exemple démontrera la possibilité de donner une seconde vie aux documents cartographiques historiques par la numérisation, le géoréférencement, la visualisation et la diffusion de certaines cartes de l’expédition Coppermine, menée au cours des années 1819 à 1822 sous le commandement du Britannique John Franklin.

Le deuxième exemple mettra en valeur l’expertise développée au Centre GéoStat par la création de nouvelles données interactives provenant de la vectorisation du trajet de l’expédition Coppermine et donnant accès à des contenus textuels et iconographiques du livre relatant cette aventure : Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819, 20, 21, and 22.

Le troisième exemple cherche à démontrer que Géoindex+ peut également héberger et diffuser des données de recherches polaires récentes, dont les données bathymétriques récoltées à partir du brise-glace scientifique Amundsen. Les usagers de la Bibliothèque peuvent désormais repérer, visualiser et télécharger des données bathymétriques généralisées des eaux nordiques du Canada.


Trent through time: Strategies for exhibiting digitized information to support study of the campus environment

Presenter: Barbara Znamirowski, Trent University

This paper will review how Trent University Library’s Maps, Data & Government Information Centre is using various mapping technologies to create products from digitized material that can assist with the study of the Trent campus and endowment lands. We have created a variety of products that can be helpful in understanding and appreciating the evolution of the campus environment in relation to a diverse array of local landscape features – both natural (such as geological features, forests, and streams), and cultural (including farms, waterways and other transportation routes). A variety of examples illustrate how diverse types of materials and information have been integrated into our web site or other end products, as well as some of the processes involved in making these resources available. One example is the presentation of historic aerial photography through web indexes, web services, time-line visualizations and exhibits. A second example is the use of story maps that integrate course-relevant materials involving the study of a campus nature reserve. Finally, this paper will situate these projects in relation to teaching, research and administrative activities on campus.


Update and discussion on copyright for cartographic materials documents

Presenter: Joël Rivard, ACMLA Copyright Task Force

This presentation will introduce a document that has been prepared by the ACMLA Copyright for Cartographic Material taskforce. There will be a brief introduction to the guide, followed by a group discussion. We hope to bring this document out of draft form and posted on the ACMLA website in the near future for all to consult.


Emerging topics for GIS and geospatial data in libraries: A roundtable discussion

Facilitator: Julie Jones, Simon Fraser University

This session will provide participants an opportunity to engage in a discussion around one of a number of emerging issues related to GIS and geospatial data in libraries. Attendees will collaborate in groups to discuss challenges in these areas, with the purpose of improving understanding, developing potential solutions and communicating outcomes to the larger audience.

Potential topics include:


Visualizing the past: Mapping, GIS and teaching historical consciousness at UNB

Presenters: Sasha Mullally and Siobhan Hanratty, University of New Brunswick

This paper evaluates the prospects for team teaching in the digital humanities, and explores the possibilities for historical instruction when digital maps and mapping are at the centre of the learning process. Drawing from the experiences bringing forth a 2014 graduate course on Digital History (HIST 6388 Understanding the Virtual Past/Making Digital History), the authors reflect on their experiences helping advanced students "spatialize" parts of their graduate work. It evaluates the way that historical consciousness (Seixas, 2006) evolves when students visualize the past through digital mapping. It provides examples from several projects, for instance, the placement of Canadian communities' World War One memorials, the regional and global distribution of Heritage Minutes subject matter, or the creation of US Naval bases in the Pacific during the Second World War. Incorporating feedback from students, the authors discuss the logistical challenges involved in launching such a course at a small research university, and put forth a template for collaboration between History professors and GIS/Data Librarians.


Let’s talk about the conference

Facilitator: Jay Brodeur, ACMLA-ACACC VP-Professional Development

Description coming soon