Are you interested in GIS? This guide is meant to inspire and help GIS users of all levels.

• Find basic geospatial information and potential resources, including topical suggestions for your next GIS project.
• Explore suggested websites with open data and geospatial resources. 
• Read GIS scholarly and industry articles in journals.
• Find training and inspirational videos for GIS projects.  
• Learn more about the GIS community at Mt. SAC and beyond.  

A GIS (short for Geographic Information System) is a computer technology. It allows software and data, tied to a location, to be displayed, analyzed, and interpreted.  

Different people, industries, and organizations use GIS in exciting and ever-developing ways. Here are a few definitions from GIS experts:  

• According to authors Law and Collins of Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro 2.6 “A GIS is composed of five interacting parts that include hardware, software, data, procedures, and people. [And,] ... GIS has many facets. It captures, stores, and manages data. It allows you to visualize, question, analyze, and interpret the data to understand relationships, patterns, and trends.”  
• According to USGS, United States Geologic Survey “A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system that analyzes and displays geographically referenced information. It uses data that is attached to a unique location.” 
• According to ESRI, Environmental Systems Research Institute “GIS is a technology that is used to create, manage, analyze, and map all types of data.” 

• Make a simple map. 

• Visualize spatial data and research variables. 

• Analyze and interpret geospatial data. 

Watch What is GIS? by ESRI for more about why people are using GIS around the world. 

GIS is part of a long lineage in cartography. However, the technology we know as GIS today came out of advancements in Computer Science and the expansion of thought in the discipline of Geography in the 1960s. Applying a geographic lens to computer science revolutionized the way computers and geography work together in what we know as GIS today. Additionally, Geographers began to apply computers in their work. GIS developed out of these explorations and applications. The future of GIS is continuing to evolve into new and fascinating ways. How will you use GIS?  

Learn more about GIS History:  

• Library of Congress, History of GIS
• Library of Congress, History of Remote Sensing  
• ESRI, GIS Timeline