ENVS4522 Course site

This final lecture will cover the last three topics of the course and will encompass the topics of experience design, the cahnging role of geospatial information in citizen engagement and the future of geospatial use.

Several points within this lecture have already been discussed in previous lectures and will cover the notion of user centered mapping including OGC standards around ensuring interoperability of geospatial information between different GIS based applications.

The following readings will be explored in the lecture.

Experience design:

1. http://www.brazandre.com/manifesto/
2. Attractive things Work better. Donald A. Norman excerpt from Emotional Design: Why we love (or hate) everyday things.
   

Changing role of geospatial information in Citizen engagement & The Future of Geospatial Information Use:

1. User Centered Mapping MIT publication.
2. NeoGeography from Gisdevelopment.net
3. Blaming Google Earth for Mumbai
4. Google Earth Used to target Israel

Our first class back after the 12 week strike will re-cap some of the themes that we touched upon in the previous lecture. We will also discuss the plan moving forward and make adjustments to the course schedule due to the strike, and talk about the final assignment and final exam.

We will look at briefly some of the tools of the geospatial web including OpenLayers, Mapserver, Geoserver etc. We will also re-cap the requirements definition of the geospatial web and look at some of the documents that enable us to focus on this phase of a project being developed.

There are no readings for this class as we will be revisiting the reading from Jesse James Garret on The Elements of User Experience.

This week we’ll be looking at the technology behind the geospatial web and some of the different applications out there that can be used to create a web mappling application. There are no readings for this weeks class.

In the second half of the class we’ll be back in the lab room working on assignment 2 and discussing the final assignment. I have created the groups and will be assigning you all to your groups in the lab.

This week we’ll be talking about web 2.0 and the movement to more social networks online. We’ll also take a jump forward in the course outline and talk about Requirements definition of the Geospatial web. This is to ensure you get a good start on the final project.

Please download the following documents for the lab and readings.

Elements of user experience

elements of the user experience1

Lab Assignment 2

QGIS lab exercise

In last nights class October 6 we looked at several different web-based mapping applications that included:

• OpenLayers
• Google Maps API
• Mapserver
• Geoserver
• ESRI ArcIMS

These applications allow you to serve up geographic data onto your website with various customizations. This will be further discussed in later lectures.

I also talked about using of Google Earth to overlay your own GIS data within the Google Earth application platform. If you are interested there are several resources available that allow you to easily export GIS shapefiles (.SHP) to what is called Keyhole Mark-up language (.KML) that can be utilized within Google Earth. Some resources worth noting for a better understanding of this process include:

• Free GIS tools has a tutorial on how to export file to KML that is worth checking out.
• shp2kml a free tool that easily converts shapefiles to KML
• Shape2Earth another tool for converting .SHP to .KML
• MapWindow a GIS desktop application that allows you to view vector and raster data and export to KML
• ArcGIS extension that can be downloaded and installed within ArcGIS to create .KML files can be found here
• Information about the KML format

Some quesitons to consider:

Why is google earth not considered to be a try Geographic information system?

Why is google maps and open layers not considerd an Internet-GIS but a web mapping application instead?

This week we’ll be discussing the emergance of Web 2.0 and how it is changing the level and kinds of participation that is occurring on the Internet to date. Discussion topics will include the notion of the long tail, Social media applicaitons and ubiuitous computing.

We’ll be in the GIS lab room for the second part of the class and I’ll be introducing you to the concept of a webserver and some basic mapping applications including the google maps API, open layers and the geoserver.

This week there is only one reading:

What is Web 2.0

Assignment #1

Answer one of the following questions. The essay should be no less then 1500 words in length, no more then 2500 words in length, you must list all references citied in an appropriate scholarly format, and be typed or word-processed, double-space.

1. The GIS and society discussions largely emerged in a response to the role of GIS in a democratic society in particular to its application within urban planning. Given the inherent power embodied within a GIS what are the ways that GIS and its development are counterproductive to a society based on democratic principles?
2. Community based environmental monitoring has been implemented in both the USA and Canada as a means of offsetting the cost to NGO’s for hiring biology scientists to set up environmental monitoring programs. Find and summarize three different CBEM programs that use GIS within their CBEM program. This may include case studies or Internet resources. Using the four modes of participation discuss in class also define what level these three programs operate at – be sure to substantiate your conclusions.
3. Given that the development of any technology is a direct reflection of the societal and technical conditions of the time. What can we discern about society based on the current state of the GIS technology of today?
4. Discuss and define alternate Open-source GIS applications present in the market today and summarize their capabilities in comparison to ESRI’s ArcGIS application that is currently used at York University.

The assignment must be submitted by email on or before Oct. 13, 2008.

This week we’ll be discussing the role of PPGIS in environmental monitoring and management. Specifically we’ll look at some of the issues of dealing with community based data collection and monitoring of aquatic ecosystems as well as case studies that implement community involvement in both environmental monitoring and management.

Some quesitons to think about while you are reading and preparing for the leacture:

Do you think it’s realistic and valid to include volunteer generated data into scientific studies?

Would you consider volunteering some of your time towards a environmental monitoring program? If so can you think of any that are active in the GTA?

Web based ppgis aids to local env decision making

Promoting the use of environmental data collected by concerned citizens through information and communication technologies

Community based environmental monitoring a biologists perspective

Attached is the course outline updated based one the September 22, 2008 class discussion. Changes include updates to the Assignment and final project outlines. Please note that Assignment #1 will be due on October 13, 2008 but you assignment must be email to me by the end of day. I will validate that I received your assignment once I receive it.

This course outline will be provided to you next week at the beginning of lecture.

4522 Curriculum 10_22_08

Tonight’s class will be canceled because I am sick at home and will not be able to attend. If you get this please let the other students know of this important update.

I will cover the material we missed this week in next weeks class.

I will also be posting the readings and presentations to date on this site shortly.