The University of Arizona Library GIS Group will describe the challenges and learnings of developing its Geographic Information Systems (GIS) program. This process has been impacted by the library's team-based organization where each GIS Group member is only partially assigned to GIS work, unlike other libraries' GIS programs which have dedicated GIS staff and budget. Major planning and developmental issues and tasks encountered by the group include: organizing a cross-disciplinary GIS coordinating group, equipment and software funding support, initial and ongoing training, service policy, campus-wide partnerships and alliances, needs assessment of customers, database acquisition, and creation of a user-friendly graphical interface to ESRI's ArcView.
The Library became involved with GIS through the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Literacy Project. It was seen as an opportunity to develop a service that would offer our campus customers use of an important emerging technology. The intent was to provide GIS support to the campus in a meaningful and effective manner in support of other educational and research activities in geo-spatial analysis. At the time, it was clear that duplicating the functions of any teaching or research based operations was not strategic and while a role or functional niche for the Library in geo-spatial data analysis was not clear it was one that needed to be identified. Leadership was not particularly eager to commit to resources but had some notion that GIS technology is an area to invest and assumed the virtues of GIS are worthwhile to participate and to establish a service base.
The organizational structure of the UA Libraries has been uniquely team based since 1994. This scheme has led to staffing of GIS services from two separate service teams: three members from the Science-Engineering Team (SET) and three members from the Social Science Team (SST). These two teams are based in two separate buildings, the Science-Engineering Library and the Main Library.
One of the foci of our GIS service is aimed at the non-traditional GIS user, i.e. those without a geo-spatial studies background or class in GIS. We envision the enormous potential for developing curriculum related assignments and providing access to global geo-spatial data through the expanding resources on the Web. There have been many challenges and learnings as we work towards bringing this technology to the novice.
The Library staff is now supportive and committed to making GIS services available to a broad user base on campus but yet has a way to go in understanding the problems for getting there. The ESRI ArcView program itself has been a learning challenge to making GIS technology usable for a broad customer base. To this end, we have started a project in programming a user friendly Graphics User Interface (GUI) to ArcView.
Staffing for this project group has thus far included six librarians. The amount of time spent by all the members of the GIS Group on planning and providing service is approximately one full time employee (FTE).
The University Library has two GIS workstations. One workstation is located in the Main Library Reference area. At this station a selection of "pre-designed" maps using 1990 census data for Arizona has been prepared. Printed instructions are available at the workstation to guide the user in printing their own copies of these pre-designed maps. Access to the full ArcView software is currently only available by appointment.
The second workstation is in the Reference area of the Science-Engineering Library. At this time the only service available is access to the full ArcView software which is also only available by appointment.
We realized that a service policy that clearly defines the levels of service and addresses the expectations for both our customers and for the Library personnel was needed. This policy outlines the levels of services for our wide range of campus customers and delineates the activities of the multi-team personnel that will be involved.
The core of the policy differentiates four levels of service:
The full service policy may be seen at: http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/library/teams/set/policy. html.
The GIS Group has undertaken several projects that shape current and prepare for future customer centered activities. Each project has been a great learning opportunity. Most of these projects are in reality continuous activities such as Needs Assessment.
An early activity was to begin a consultative relationship with Craig Wissler-Senior Research Assistant at the Advanced Resource Technology (ART ) Program Lab. His support has been invaluable as an advisor, consultant, and negotiator for a series of GIS activities. The Library's eventual contribution to this partnership is to serve ART Lab's geo-spatial datasets to the public. The library's long hours of operation provides the maximum access and availability of data to the public.
An early project was the selection of geo-spatial datasets for creating canned-maps. Selection criteria was based upon high demand ArcView ready from our existing CD-ROM collection. The census data Tiger Files were chosen and from them canned map views for Arizona were created.
To understand existing campus activities in geo-spatial education and research we undertook a Needs Assessment survey. This survey involved querying campus units currently utilizing GIS technology as well as those units not utilizing GIS technology. Details on this project are covered in the Selected Issues section as "Needs Assessment Survey: Informs Library GIS Activities."
Some of the other projects which we are involved in are:
- Designing a user friendly GUI (Graphic User Interface) to ArcView for novice customers.
- Inventory, evaluation and conversion of UA Library owned CD-ROMS with potential GIS application.
GIS, like any "high-end" graphics application, is a computing intensive high cost tool. Opportunity to upgrade arrives with each new, faster, component that hits the market. Components include: micro-processor chip, hard drive storage, CD-ROM reader, communication modem, and others. Since the fall of 1995 we have made two hardware upgrades and one software upgrade for ESRI's ArcView to our current version 3.0
Aside from the Library LAN supported network which is a "T" line for Internet access, our current PC based workstations have the following specifications:
| CPU | -- Pentium II, 266 mHz |
| RAM | -- 128 meg ecc RAM, expandable to 128 or more, 512 K cache |
| chassis box | -- full tower with 6 external bays |
| drives | -- Adaptec UW scsi, 3 of 9 gig scsi hard drives (=27 gig) |
| CD-ROM reader | -- CD-ROM scsi, room for external ZIP and tape drive |
| videocard | -- Matrix Millenium II 8 meg, expandable to 16 meg |
| Ethernet card | -- 3c905 100mb enet |
| monitor | -- Viewsonic 21" professional |
| total cost without software -- $10,052 | |
GIS, being a high-end application, requires progressively faster processing performance, and will always employ the latest computing devices that arrive on the market. For example, we have recently configured our stations to use ZIP drives. Expect periodic needs to upgrade components or systems every one to two years depending on user needs. Other future hardware upgrades or GIS system services and operations include:
2) a hardcopy HP model 750C color plotter of 36" width for printing presentation quality maps, which is currently priced at $10,000.
The Library practices resource allocation based on customer data which makes it essential to know our customers' priorities and perceived values. One project that helped us in learning and understanding possible campus GIS services was the Needs Assessment Survey.
We discounted the common library "default" option to make GIS available by just setting up a high-end workstation and then ignore the student body that are not technically prepared, and/or computer literate with various graphics programs. Our vision is to provide customers in any subject discipline that could benefit from GIS's powerful imaging and visualization capabilities.
It was important to provide GIS services but equally important that we positioned our activities appropriately. In other words, we wanted pre-assurance in choosing GIS activities that addressed unmet needs, and not be in direct competition or an overlap function with any existing campus activity. Two examples are teaching of hands-on lab GIS courses and campus units engaged in research projects of a geo-spatial studies nature. We sought a long range role with productive outcomes for the Library. So it was important to identify complementary or needed geo-spatial related campus services. Some examples of suggested GIS service roles include: data files acquisition, geo-spatial data management, data conversion, updating, storage and retrieval, and remote network accessing.
The Needs Assessment tool employed was simply a well conceived series of questions that covered the scale and scope of established teaching or research activities. We collected data for: courses taught; enrollment size and frequency of classes taught; their research interests, past history and future plans; and possible roles for the Library.
Our survey proved valuable for planning initial GIS operations. We also began to develop a self-identity influenced by what other GIS players perceived who we are and how future plans might meet such perceived roles and functions.
One outcome of this survey, while dealing with ArcView's steep learning curve, lead us to explore how ArcView can be made easier. The issue became how to make a high performance GIS ArcView program easy to use for the student body without sacrificing too much functionality. The idea of designing a user friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) for ArcView soon materialized and became a project after funding was obtained. We hired a graduate student in GIS who also had programming skills and has decided on employing Visual Basic and Map Objects for building the GUI.
Currently, GIS services are not tied to any one subject department or unit, such as the Map Collection, with dedicated personnel (one person at least 50% assigned to GIS). It has been challenging to build this service in bits and pieces because each staff member contributes less than 25% of their time on average to the project. The amount of time spent by the entire GIS Group on planning and providing service averages a total of one FTE. The consequence of this arrangement is that the responsibilities for this service do not reside in one specialized department/team as in many other university library settings. This fragmentation has hindered our efforts at critical in-depth learning/training time essential for mastering the ArcView program.
Our current staffing of six librarians is drawn from two subject area teams: the Social Sciences and Science & Engineering Teams. One clear advantage with these six members, is the diversity of subject expertise, technical experience, and skills have proven invaluable. However, we do not recommend staffing a GIS program, with its steep learning curve, based on a fragmented staffing model.
During the early stages of the program, one group member was given ESRI certified training. That person was expected to train the rest of the group. Later, funding was received for all six members of the group to attend an ESRI certified workshop. Group members also attend various GIS-related workshops, seminars and conferences when available and when work schedules permit.
Although the members of the GIS group now have the basic level of training, it is very apparent that training retention at the level of expertise required for advanced assistance, level C and D, may not be possible by all Group members. As with any other software training, the retention level decreases as time passes between training and practice or application. What we have learned is that practicing together, actually serving as student and instructor, has enabled us to support each group member's development.
Since the earliest stages of the development of the program there has been much discussion about the level of training, if any, in the use of ArcView that should be given to our customers. Should our customers be self sufficient in the more sophisticated use of ArcView? If so, should it be our role to train them? Would we be in competition with other GIS units on campus?
The possible solution to our customer training dilemma has been the recent development of our user friendly "graphical user interface (GUI)". The GUI will simplfy the manipulation of geo-spatial data without sacrificing many basic ArcView functions. The need for formal training sessions for our customers in the use of the GUI is obvious and GUI workshops will be incorporated into the Library's continuing series of computer and Internet workshops.
The success of our program is closely tied to the geo-spatial data that is available to our campus customers; however, the library is not in a position to create its own GIS datasets. After an initial search for and purchase of ArcView readable datasets, it quickly became apparent that the development of a library of GIS datasets will take time and require considerable effort to identify.
Datasets for the sciences have been particularly difficult to obtain and the ones we do own have required subject specialists from campus departments to interpret the data. Also, most of the datasets available are not very practical for the majority of our customers. They are either too small scale and covering large areas or are too large scale and covering too small of a geographic area. We have been developing partnerships and making contacts with all organizations and agencies within our state already producing or with the potential for producing geo-spatial data.
As an attempt to increase the variety of datasets for GIS use, a subgroup was formed to work on an inventory and evaluation of geo-spatial data on CD-ROMs acquired as part of the Federal Government Depository program. Besides providing basic descriptive information, each geo-spatial data set was evaluated for its ease of use with ArcView. Data from some of the CD-ROMs is being converted to ArcView-readable format.
Funding for the program consists of the currently assigned staff; GIS materials and purchase of geo-spatial data collections are funded from the Library's annual material budget. Any other computing software or hardware upgrades are funded on an annual one-time allocation basis. While the funding process may be important, the equipment order time also needs to be considered. It has been our experience that the purchasing of computer hardware under the vendor bid requirement has taken three months or more to receive final merchandise.
The one-time funding is a competitive library-wide process where all requests are viewed with criteria of merit for future performance, customer impact, and or strategic value for the Library's impact in serving our primary customers. Without an annual operations budget, one-time funding has been the only source to support our projects. This situation has delayed us considerably due to the time demands of the process for formal funding request and another three plus months' delivery time cycle.
These are activities that the GIS Group is considering:
- Metadata: create metadata records for GIS datasets available throughout the campus and load as a subset in SABIO, the library's information gateway.
- Large-format plotter: mentioned above in Current Hardware; either a purchase by the library or networking to another campus unit.
- Internet dataset usage: includes configuring our workstations to access and manipulate GIS datasets available through the Internet; and identifying and establishing links to quality sites.
- Archiving GIS data: archive GIS datasets developed on campus by storing on CD-ROMs; for example, geo-spatial datasets accompanying theses and dissertations.
- Serving GIS data: load unique, campus-produced, or password-accessible commercial datasets in our Web server and provide interactive access through the Internet employing software recently developed by ESRI.