COLLEGE PARK, MD – The University of Maryland’s McKeldin Library will celebrate the Seventh Annual GIS Day on November 16, 2005 with festivities from 11am-3pm on featuring lectures, demonstrations and posters, free maps, and a raffle. There will also be a lecture series, which runs from 11:00am-1:00pm, featuring Dr. Naijun Zhou and Dr. Chaoqing Yu from the University of Maryland Geography Department. Dr. Zhou will address “Geospatial Information Services: A New Research and Application Agenda” and Dr. Yu will speak on “Representing Human Elements in GIS.” This event is free and open to the public.

Held each year on the Wednesday of the National Geographic Society’s Geography Awareness Week (November 13–19 in 2005), GIS Day is a global event that celebrates Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, the innovative technology that uses geography to bring countless benefits to the world. The open house in McKeldin provides an opportunity for those curious about GIS to see its applications in action. A GIS is a computer-based mapping tool that takes information from a database about a location, such as streets, buildings, water features, and terrain, and turns it into visual layers. The ability to see geographic features on a map gives users a better understanding of a particular location, enabling planners, analysts, and others to make informed decisions about their communities.

Although you may not be aware of it, GIS touches our lives daily. It is used throughout the world to solve problems related to the environment, health care, land use, business efficiency, education, and public safety. The power supply directed to homes, the patrol cars and fire trucks that keep neighborhoods safe, and the delivery trucks on the road all function more efficiently because of these mapping systems. This technology can also help businesses place ATMs and restaurants at more convenient locations, allow people to pull maps off the Internet, and help farmers grow more crops with less chemicals.

Most recently we have seen how GIS technology can be used to aid natural disaster recovery after Hurricane Katrina. The applications of GIS technology are endless, limited only by the imagination of its users. From border patrol agents to doctors, and from federal agency employees to local city planners, people in nearly every profession all over the world reap the benefits of this extraordinary technology.

GIS Day serves to make people aware of GIS technology and the important contributions it is making in the fields of science, technology, information, and the humanities. It is a grassroots event and a reflection of the enthusiasm and commitment of individual GIS users everywhere.

This year marks GIS Day’s seventh year, so be sure to join the celebration and become a part of this annual tradition. For event registration, support, and ideas or to find a GIS Day 2005 event near you, log on to www.gisday.com. If you have any questions, please contact Kim Ricker (GIS/Data Librarian) at 301-314-1355.

GIS Day is principally sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the Association of American Geographers, the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, the United States Geological Survey, the Library of Congress, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett–Packard, and ESRI.

GIS Day and www.gisday.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

return to top