Facebook Poll - Which GIS?

We are running a poll on our Facebook page to see which GIS is the most widely used by Digimap users.

Go to this page to let us know which one you use the most: GIS Poll

ESRI/Chest Technical Event - 23 September, London

The following event may be of some interest to Digimap users. Posted on behalf of Eduserv Chest.

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The Chest Agreement with ESRI expires on 31 July 2011. Some of you may remember helping to shape the current Chest Agreement and how tricky it was. We're starting work on the renewal early, with a break-out and discussion session at the Eduserv & ESRI Event for Higher Education on Thursday 23 September 2010 at the Congress Centre in central London.

This event follows on from the success of two previous technical events, held at the University of Leeds in 2008 and University of Birmingham in 2009. The meeting is intended to bring together people from universities who are either using ArcGIS or other ESRI software or providing and supporting ESRI software in their institutions.

In addition to the very important session on shaping the new Chest Agreement, this year's event will also feature sessions on:

* What's new in ArcGIS 10
* How to get the most from Virtual Campus
* Mobile GIS best practice
* User presentation from University of Worcester.

Most of the presentations will be by people from within the Higher Education community. The event will also include a free (optional) networking breakfast for both users of GIS and those who licence the software to share experiences and discuss challenges. Lunch is also included.

This is a completely free event.

For details of the current Chest Agreement, please visit: www.eduserv.org.uk/ESRI

For complete details and to register, please visit: http://www.esriuk.com/trainingevents/events/chest2010/

ArcGIS and raster catalogs

The following may be of interest to those Digimap users who have ArcGIS 9.3.1 and are using raster catalogs.

ESRI have just released a patch fixing the issue with Microsoft SQL Server and Raster Catalogues. This works with ArcGIS 9.3.1 Service Pack 1.

ESRI's announcement is as follows:

"ESRI announces ArcSDE 9.3.1 SP1 SQL Server Raster Catalog and Raster Field Patch. This patch addresses the raster catalog display and raster field identify problem for SQL Server following the install of 9.3.1 sp1. We recommend that all who store raster catalogs or raster fields in ArcSDE for SQL Server download and install this Patch at their earliest convenience to ensure the highest quality experience when working with ArcSDE 9.3.1 Service Pack 1."

Link to patch:(http://support.esri.com/index.cfm?fa=downloads.patchesServicePacks.viewPatch&PID=17&MetaID=1586)

Live Webinar: Productivity Suite

ESRI (UK) is running a LIVE WEBINAR entitled:

Productivity Suite 2.0 - Unlocking the Full Potential of Ordnance Survey Data

It is being held on Wednesday 4 November 2009, 10:00 – 11:00 am

If you are using Ordnance Survey data from Digimap and your institution has a licence to use ArcGIS, you might find this a useful event to attend. Licensing ArcGIS via Chest includes the Productivity Suite, an additional software application providing data conversion tools. Productivity Suite does not cost extra, but should be requested specifically when the Chest licence is purchased.

Further details of the Webinar can be found on the ESRI (UK) website at: http://www.esriuk.com/trainingevents/events/productivitysuite041109/

Obituary: Peter Burrough

Peter Burrough, one of the founding fathers of GIS research, died in Leiden on 9th January 2009.

Peter Burrough is recognised for his for seminal work, Principles of GIS for land resources management. Published in 1986, the book introduced the essential technical tasks of GIS applications such as spatial data capture, storage, and output, and the development of the analytical models that were needed to exploit the full potential of this new technology. The book became an instrumental resource for soil scientists as well as geographers, surveyors, social scientists, urban planners and students in these fields. As a result many became interested in the newly developing GIS field.

Peter Burrough is also recognised for his important contributions to the creation of both AGILE (the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories for Europe) and to EUROGI (EURopean Umbrella Organisation for Geographic Information) at a critical point in its development.

In January 2007, his role as a founding father of GIS research was internationally recognised in a special issue of the International Journal of Geographic Information Science on Advances in the spatio-temporal modelling of environment and landscapes. This was edited by two of his former colleagues at Utrecht University and the co-author of the second edition of his classic work, Rachael McDonnell.

GML data translation from Dotted Eyes

Dotted Eyes, a well established digital mapping solution provider, has produced an edition of their InterpOSe GML translator specifically for EDINA Digimap users.

The Digimap Edition of InterpOSe will translate OS MasterMap GML data from Digimap's MasterMap Download facility and convert it to various file formats, including Shape, TAB, mid/mif and DWG/DXF. InterpOSe deals with both Topography and ITN layers, and is tailored specifically for data from Digimap.

InterpOSe (the Digimap Edition) is free for Digimap users upon registration with Dotted Eyes. Please visit their website for more information and to download a copy of InterpOSe:

http://www.dottedeyes.co.uk/spatial_data_loading/interpose/digimap.php

ESRI- CHEST Community Event

A significant number of Digimap users have access to GIS software from ESRI (e.g. ArcGIS, Productivity Suite, MapManager...). ESRI software is available at discounted rates for UK academics via Chest.

On 18th September 2008, ESRI and Chest are holding a joint community event at the University of Leeds. All users of ESRI software within the Chest licence agreement are invited and encouraged to attend.

The event is free, and more details including a programme can be found on the ESRI website. We look forward to seeing you there.

Free GIS courses from ESRI

As of 4 August 2008, the following courses will be FREE. Previously they have only been available via a subscription to ESRI Virtual Campus.

1. Introduction to GIS Data ReViewer
2. Introduction to Map Production System-Atlas
3. Introduction to Map Production System-Atlas (for ArcGIS 9.0-9.1)

If you wish to take this training, visit the ESRI Training and Education website http://training.esri.com where you can enroll for free.

If you have previously accessed these courses through the ESRI Virtual Campus, you will continue to have access to the course. If you have any questions, please contact ESRI directly.