Case Studies

Is it hard to create a map using the JavaScript library OpenLayers? Many would say it is not, yet on mailing lists, IRC or popular question and answer sites (e.g. Stack Overflow) some problems seem to be posted in a regular interval: "My features are all near the equator, but they shouldn't", "Why do I always get pink tiles?", "Why does it say 'Access to restricted URI denied' in my browser?", "How do I build a version of OpenLayers that only includes the parts I need?" etc.

Prior to the talk I will analyze the questions (and corresponding answers) on some of the places users ask for help. Additionally I will add comments and questions I get to hear when I train different target groups working with OpenLayers. The goal of the presentation is to identify some of the common pitfalls non-experienced users of OpenLayers run into. I will briefly present the specific problem that arose, the help the user got and whether official documentation (API documentation, examples, official FAQ etc.) could be used to solve the problem.

Eventually another goal of the talk is to enhance the documentation and/or code of the OpenLayers project where necessary and possible.

The talk is not only addressed to people already using OpenLayers (which maybe are already experiencing problems like the ones mentioned) but also to people considering the use of OpenLayers as mapping library in their project. The broad range of touched aspects will give a good first overview of the capabilities of OpenLayers, regarding both the code itself, the usage of the code in projects and finally the community around it.

This presentation will demonstrate how FOSS4G has been integrated into courses and research on a college campus via the library, will discuss methods for teaching FOSS4G, and will hi-light the strengths and challenges of using QGIS over proprietary alternatives in higher education. The library began offering instruction and support for QGIS in the Fall of 2009. Because the college is a commuter campus without strong support for GIS in the curriculum, offering QGIS through the library’s GIS program has filled an important niche for students and faculty who are new to GIS, are on a limited budget, and can't be tied down to a campus lab. I’ll discuss a paper I wrote on evaluating open source software for thematic mapping that led to an undergraduate level geographic information course in the library’s Information Studies minor. I’ll also share the results of a series of introductory, day-long, hands-on workshops in QGIS for graduate students and faculty that were held in Spring 2011. Participants from a variety of disciplines attended these workshops, primarily to learn GIS so they could apply it to their research. Novice GIS users appreciated the analytical power and perspective that GIS software provides while advanced GIS users who had never used FOSS4G were impressed with the software’s capabilities.

Baruch College is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system of public colleges. Located in midtown Manhattan, Baruch has 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in business, arts and sciences, and public affairs. While there is interest in GIS in several departments on campus, the college doesn’t have the traditional departments, like geography and earth sciences, that typically provide GIS courses and services. GIS services are offered by a dedicated geospatial data librarian through the college’s library.