Learning Module: Acquiring Data

Purpose

Gives students direct experience obtaining data from various sources, qualifying the data, and converting it for use in a GIS.

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate the ability to download data from text-based sources and convert it to a GIS format
• Demonstarte the ability to download data from common GIS data warehouse sites

Reading (optional)

• Bolstad: Chapter 7

Activities

Spend some time searching the web for GIS data that you are interested in. Download the data after checking the web site for information on the quality and spatial reference of the data. Then, bring the data into a GIS package and create a map.

Presentations/Discussions

• A note on "Project On The Fly"
• Finding and Acquiring Data
• File Formats and Complex Formats (Raster and Vector)
• Sources: Global Data, The United States, National Map, and California
• Digital Data

Lab

• Acquire Data for a Music Festival