fdonnelly – Page 2 – Reference at Newman Library

New Baruch Geoportal Just Launched

We’ve relaunched the Baruch Geoportal, our library’s on-line repository for GIS and geospatial data. Our new front-end uses a Confluence wiki which allows us to: update the site more quickly, spend more time on content and less time on design, and to collaborate more easily. Also, it’s visually integrated with the library’s and the college’s website. Much of the existing content was migrated over, and we’ve added some new material. You can read our inaugural blog post for more details, and then follow along with that blog to monitor updates on the site. The new url is:

https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/confluence/display/geoportal/

The library’s databases list has been updated to reflect this change. If people still have bookmarks to the old address (http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/geoportal/), they’ll automatically be re-directed to the new site (at least for the next few months).

NYC Mass Transit Spatial Layers for GIS

The GIS Lab has just launched a new dataset called the NYC Mass Transit Spatial Layers series. These GIS files contain the stops and routes for NYC buses, subways, and trains (the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North). The files are released under Creative Commons and are available on the Baruch Geoportal at: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/geoportal/data/nyc_transit/.

We intend to update the data bi-annually. The layers are provided in a shapefile format that can be used with just about any GIS software, and are projected in the local state plane coordinate system commonly used by City agencies. In the future we plan to add an FAQ to provide new users with tips on how to work with the files.

The series was created so that members of the public would have access to well-documented and readily-usable GIS layers of NYC mass transit features. The MTA publishes a data feed for developers that contains data for stops, trips, and routes, but in a format that’s not readily useable in GIS (for example, routes have to be constructed from long strings of coordinates) or readily useable for making basic map representations of routes or stops (the data is in a General Transit Feed Specification format that’s suitable for constructing schedules and timetables). We have essentially taken this raw data, built a process for transforming and cleaning it, and have documented it using spatial metadata standards.

The process was a team effort that CA’s Rachel Weinberg, Josiah Wahlrab, Araby Smyth and I all contributed to. The CUNY Mapping Service at the Center for Urban Research also deserves recognition – they inspired this project through the detailed documentation they provided on their experiences working with this data feed.

Accessibility to Jobs for NYC Neighborhoods

The Rudin Center for Transportation at NYU recently released a report entitled Mobility, Economic Opportunity and New York City Neighborhoods. Included with the report are an interactive map and summary profiles by ZIP Code (together in one PDF) that illustrate how accessible each neighborhood is relative to employment opportunities. In addition to illustrating accessibility, the data also seeks to illustrate the balance or imbalance between available job opportunities (based on the type / sector of work) versus the education, skill, or income level of different neighborhoods.

Accessibility measures and transit routing were generated using the Google Apps API, and the other data comes from the Census: neighborhood demographics from the 2008-2012 American Community Survey, and job counts from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Origin-Destination Employment Statistics. This would be a good resource for our students who are doing neighborhood research.

GIS Practicum Spring 2015

After a hiatus in the fall, the workshops are back! This semester’s GIS (geographic information systems) Practicum, Introduction to GIS Using Open Source Software (featuring QGIS), will take place on the following Fridays:

February 27th
March 27th
April 24th

The day-long workshop runs from 9am to 4:30pm. Current CUNY graduate students, faculty, and staff, and full-time Baruch undergrads are eligible to register. Advance registration is required; the fee is $30 and includes a detailed tutorial manual and a light breakfast. Visit the GIS Practicum page to learn more and to register: http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/gis/gisprac.

Registration for both sessions begins on January 30th. Feel free to circulate this info to students and faculty, but please do not post via listservs. I have fliers in my office if anyone would like some to distribute.

NYC Data Guide Neighborhood Maps using CartoDB

The city maps on the NYC Data neighborhood page allow users to view neighborhood areas and click on them to view data directly from the US Census Bureau. There is a map for PUMAs (census statistical areas that have 100k people and are similar in size and shape to community districts) and a map for ZCTAs (ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which represent USPS ZIP Codes that have a geographic area). The PUMA maps point to the latest 3-year profiles from the American Community Survey (ACS), and the ZCTA maps point to profiles from the 2010 Census and the latest 5-year ACS dataset.

Both maps have just been updated to point to 2013 data that was recently released. They can be viewed within the guide, but can be navigated more easily if you hit the full screen button that’s embedded in the map.

Previously, the maps were overlaid on a Google Maps basemap. Unfortunately Google decided to deprecate the ability for people to overlay KML files stored on webservers over their maps. The alternatives they offer are completely unsatisfactory. So, we are now using a free service from CartoDB, a web-mapping service headquartered right here in the Flatiron district, as our new platform. Many thanks go to Data Services CA Rachel Weinberg for researching and experimenting with CartoDB so we could keep this service up and running!

GIS Practicum to Return in Spring 2015

The GIS Practicum, Introduction to GIS Using Open Source Software (QGIS), will return in spring 2015. This fall I’ll be revising the tutorial with new content based on feedback from past participants, and will update the exercises based on the new 2.0 interface that QGIS introduced this past year. This will be the first major rewrite of the content since the workshop was introduced three years ago.

Prospective participants can fill out a short form on the GIS Practicum page if they would like to be notified when registration for the workshops opens at the end of January. In all likelihood there will be one day-long session each month on a Friday in March, April, and May. Current CUNY graduate students, faculty, and staff, and Baruch undergraduates are eligible to sign-up.

GIS Practicum Spring 2014

This semester’s GIS (geographic information systems) Practicum, Introduction to GIS Using Open Source Software (using QGIS), will take place on the following Fridays:

Februrary 28th
April 4th
May 2nd

The day-long workshop runs from 9am to 4:30pm. Current CUNY graduate students, faculty, and staff are eligible to register; Baruch undergrads may register with permission from the instructor. Advance registration is required; the fee is $30 and includes a detailed tutorial manual and a light breakfast. Visit the GIS Practicum page to learn more and to register: http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/gis/gisprac

A second, advanced workshop, Introduction to Spatial Databases Using Open Source Software (using QGIS and Spatialite), will be offered once this semester. The half-day workshop will run from 9am to 12:30pm on Friday April 11th.

Eligibility requirements are the same, except that participants must also have prior GIS experience. Advance registration is required; the fee is $10 and includes a tutorial booklet and hot beverages. Visit the Spatial Database Practicum page to learn more and to register: http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/gis/spatialdb

Registration for both sessions is now open. Feel free to circulate this info to Baruch students, faculty, and staff, but please do not post via listservs. I have fliers in my office if anyone would like some to distribute.

NYCdata Update – NYC Government Structure

As a result of our meeting back in December, the NYCdata team at the Weissman Center has updated their resource based on feedback we provided. They’ve added a sub-section under the Public Safety and NYC Governmental Structure chapter that provides links to government agencies within each of the three branches of government. Over the next six months we will be working with them to update the maps on their site.

New Census ACS Data and Maps

The Census Bureau finished its roll-out of the latest American Community Survey (ACS) estimates in December. I’ve updated the neighborhoods tab of the NYC Data guide to point to the latest summary profiles:

Google map of NYC ZCTAs (ZIP Code Tabulation Areas) points to the latest five-year estimates: 2008-2012
Google map of NYC PUMAs (statistical areas with 100k people that approximate groups of neighborhoods) points to the latest three-year estimates: 2010-2012
Links for the city as a whole and each individual borough / county point to the latest one-year estimates: 2012

The PUMA-level data for the 2012 ACS uses new PUMA boundaries that were redrawn for the 2010 Census; previous editions of the ACS (from 2011 back) used 2000 Census boundaries. While the boundaries are only slightly different, the biggest change is that the Census has assigned names to the PUMAs based on local government input; previously the PUMAs were numbered but not officially named. The Google Map has been updated to reflect this change, and Joe Paccione has created a series of static PDF maps (avaliable on the same page under the link “PUMA Maps”) that depict the PUMAs with their numbers and new names.

NYCdata Presentation Dec 9th

NYCdata (http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/) is a public web-based compendium of statistics about the City of New York. Created by the Weissman Center for International Business, this comprehensive resource is organized into categories of statistics (population, business, finance, trade, culture, etc.) and each table references its underlying sources. The data is updated on an on-going basis.

Eugene Sherman, a Fellow at the Weissman Center, and Project Manager Kenya Williams are going to give a 30 minute presentation to the library on Monday Dec 9th at 10am in room 320a. The website recently went through a re-design and they would like to illustrate the updates and generally promote the resource. All are welcome to attend.