Intro to Mapping

Lauren Jacobson

@lauren_cjay

Goals for Today

• Mapping fundamentals

• Open source software

• How you can make turn your data into pretty maps :D

A bit about me

• Geography at GWU
• Open mapping tools for disaster mitigation
• Spent a year in Indonesia- personal project, collecting Open Street Map data
• Now- Open Data advocate @ Development Seed 

GIS

It's all about the visual

Raster vs Vector

Open Source Tools

Open Source Tools

Step 1: Data Acquisition

• Is your file already georeferenced? (.shp, .geojson, .kml)
• If not, you will need to make edits 
• Most forms of raw data CAN become map layers 
• .csv, .xls - Easier, .txt- More Challenging

Step 2: Data Cleaning

Suggested Fields:

• Object_ID
• Object_Name
• Address
• City
• State 
• Zip
• Country
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Geometry

Step 2: Data Cleaning

Update v_attractions.pnt_sidewalkcafes
SET geometry = 'POINT(1 1)';
INSERT INTO geometry VALUES (GeomFromText(@geometry));

Why Even Use SQL?

• Querying language, use to manage data on a large scale
• Make bulk edits
• Build relations between tables
• Manage large amounts of data in one consolidated location

Step 3: Import into QGIS

• Several different import options
• Easy to use interface
• Best for making changes to individual points
• Creation of static maps 

Other Options

http://bit.ly/1W8habL

Hit me up!

@lauren_cjay

lcj1188@gmail.com

What Can I do Next?

DC Mapping Meetups:

• Maptime: http://www.meetup.com/Maptime-DC/
• Mapping DC: https://mappingdc.org/
• GeoDC: http://www.meetup.com/Geo-DC/