December 2004
A new course in GIS Applications will be
offered in the spring semester at the University of Southern
Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn Campus. GIS, which stands
for Geographic Information Systems, is a relatively new,
computer-based technology that allows the user to display,
manipulate, and analyze information from a map.
GIS allows for the storage, retrieval, mapping,
and analysis of geographic data, often to support decision
making for
planning and management of land use, natural resources,
environment, transportation, urban facilities, and other
administrative records. This technology is utilized by
many people working
in town or city planning, public health,
environmental sciences, geology, and watershed analysis.
The GIS course to be offered at USM/L-A will
stress the practical applications of popular graphical
user interface
(GUI) software packages such as ArcView. Topics covered
will include displaying, downloading, editing, analyzing,
and printing public domain and user-created geographical
data sets. The main emphasis of the course will be on the
acquisition of system operation skills. David Harris, Ph.D.,
associate professor at USM/L-A will serve as the instructor.
The course (GEO 108, GIS Applications) will
meet Wednesdays, 4:00 - 6:30 p.m., beginning January 19,
2005. Registration
is open through the first class meeting. While there are
no formal prerequisites, students should have some experience
using the basic functions of Windows Desktop to find and
manage files. For more information or to register, please
call 753-6530. The complete spring semester USM/L-A course
schedule is online at www.usm.maine.edu/lac/schedules.
