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Do you offer GIS service in your library? If so, how
is it used? Do students use it for class assignments?
Do they require tutoring in using GIS?
 
Several years ago, this subject was much-discussed
on this list. Some libraries were at different stages
in offering--or preparing to offer--GIS services. In
my own library, we had just installed ARCVIEW on a
p.c. and were taking the first steps in learning how
to use it, ourselves.
Since then, several GIS sites have been established
around campus (Engineering, Business, in addition to
the computer lab in the Geography Dept.) Students in
these areas use their own labs.
 
Meanwhile, we have installed a new ARCVIEW release,
which garbled a lot of what we thought we had learned!
(It didn't help that we had no fulltime Map Library
staff until 2 months ago.)
Now, my new fulltime clerical assistant, who has a
degree in geography, is taking an ARCVIEW class offered
by the Engineering Dept. This class, though, features
a still newer release and is mounted on a Sun workstation,
so it is questionable as to how applicable it will be to
our library situation.
 
Frustrating! But it makes me wonder if we need to offer
any more than just the ability for students to pull up
general maps and a few extra data sources. Do we need to
flog ourselves to be GIS experts?
 
What do others thing?
 
Sue Haffner, Map Library, CSU Fresno