GIS software at MIT: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Lab at MIT

Maps + Mapping

Social Science Data Services

US Census

GIS Lab
Rotch Library, building 7-238

Contact Us
gishelp@mit.edu

GIS software at MIT

Geography Information System (GIS) software facilitates analysis by providing a means to not only ask complex questions, but also provide the ability to output graphic maps produced from those questions, and store spatial data. There are a variety of GIS software packages and some are better suited for different applications.

ESRI

ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) is a leading company in GIS software and has many products ranging from simple free viewers to powerful desktop and internet mapping. The ESRI software listed below is available at MIT.

ArcGIS (and ArcView) are available in the GIS Lab in Rotch Library (7-238), on the Data/GIS Workstation in Dewey Library (E53-100), and in Electronic Classrooms with WinAthena, run by Academic Computing (37-312). ESRI extensions are included in the MIT site license. Extensions licensed from a third party through ESRI (for example: Data Interoperability and Tracking Analyst) are not available in the MIT site license.

To order a copy of ESRI software fill out the online ESRI GIS software at MIT order form. (You will need MIT certificates to access this page.) Instructions for installing ArcGIS 9.x are available online. To run an MIT copy of ESRI software you must be authenticated in one of the following three ways:

1. be connected to the MIT network on campus (net 18)
2. be connected to the MIT network through a vpn (instructions are available at http://web.mit.edu/ist/services/network/vpn.html)
3. obtain a dongle (contact dsheehan@mit.edu - note there may be a fee for purchasing dongles)

About ESRI desktop mapping software: In 1982 ESRI launched its first commercial GIS software called ARC/INFO. In 1992 ESRI released a more affordable, easier to learn desktop mapping tool, called ArcView. ArcGIS, released in 2001, combines the robust tools of ArcInfo's command line with the GUI interface of ArcView and is marketed by ESRI as their scalable system for geographic data creation, management, integration, analysis, and dissemination. ...http://www.esri.com/company/about/history.html

Many scripts, samples, patches, data models, etc. are freely available online at ESRI support

PCI Geomatica - GIS and remote sensing

PCI Geomatica combines Remote Sensing Image Processing, GIS/Spatial Analysis, Cartography, and Desktop Photogrammetry into a single integrated environment. It recognizes a wide variety of file formats . It is available in the MIT GIS Lab (Rotch Library, 7-238), Athena & WinAthena (37-312) and installation disks can be obtained by emailing vsls@mit.edu, from MIT email account to request a copy of software.

Pcensus - Demographic data with graphing, reporting and mapping tools

PCensus for ArcGIS with Demographic Updates (from Claritas) integrates detailed demographic data with customizable graphing, reporting, and mapping tools. Users can define areas of interest with pre-defined census boundaries, circles, drive time, and custom boundary files. Pcensus is available on the Windows computers in the MIT GIS Lab (Rotch Library, 7-238).

GeoLytics - Mapping US Census data

GeoLytics provides demographic data with built-in mapping capabilities that create thematic maps for instant spatial display of demographic information. Geolytics software contains nation-wide tract-level data from the 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses. Comparing data from different census years can be a difficult task due to changing geographic boundaries. Geolytics' Normalized Data Product line adjusts and weights the census data to account for changes in geographies making comparisons between cenus years much easier. Geolytics also provides digital access to hard to find census data dating back to 1970. Geolytics software is available on the "Census" computer in the MIT GIS Lab (Rotch Library, 7-238). A listing of Geolytics cd's available in the MIT Libraries can be found in Barton by doing an Advanced Search by Publisher = Geolytics .

Other GIS software

There are a rapidly growing number of GIS software applications being developed. Many open source solutions are being developed using Java and hence, are available for multiple platforms. Wikipedia has an interesting listing of proprietary and open source GIS software. A good place to learn about what is going on in the Open Source GIS community is the OSGEO - Open Source Geospatial Foundation.