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GIS (Geographical Information Systems) at TCD

GIS is now taught in the Geography Dept., TCD as an introductory part of all courses and an optional Junior Sophister/Senior Sophister course. GIS has emerged as a leading tool used in a diverse range of applications, basically covering anything which handles or uses spatial data. Knowledge of GIS techniques is particularily valuable and necessary for students intending to pursue careers using skills and knowledge gained elsewhere and on other modules.

Why become Geographical Information users?

Location affects nearly everything we do in life: we choose where to build homes, where to eat, where the nearest hospital is in case of emergency. Companies analyse risks and assign insurance rates, make loans and investments, and build regional offices according to location decisions. Many of these decisions are complicated by society’s increasing desire for mobility while maintaining instant access to information. At the global scale, location is also at the heart of some of the world’s most pressing problems: immigration, poverty and starvation, environmental degradation, crime and security, natural hazards and disasters. Geographic Information Science provides formal tools and methods to represent and analyze these important problems in a controlled (scientifically repeatable) manner. It is therefore critical to the development of the Knowledge Economy and a just Information Society.

What is/are GIS?

Spatial data include maps and attributes of features with a location in time and space. Using GIS, the storage of information on these features is automated i.e. carried out through the use of a computer. GIS are data storage and visulaisation tools, with location forming the principal link between stored information and the principal method for accessing it (the map).

GIS courses combine a range of skills to allow the sucessful use of GIS in projects and coursework, or in the workplace. Elements of the GIS courses available include map preparation, database design and formation, data entry and GIS applications.