Maine GIS Users—it is truly new times for the Users Group. You can now check on your membership status from our website and register for our upcoming meetings. We will work hard to ensure that we keep this up-to-date and provide you with timely newsletters and notices for our meetings. On that note, thanks go out to Kristie Barr for her continued support and assistance in helping the User group organize and produce this newsletter and our conferences.
Speaking of meetings, this coming fall meeting promises to be one of the best yet. Sponsored, in part, by NASA the conference focus is on remote sensing. We are also developing a teacher-training track targeted at helping to encourage GIS use in the grade schools.
I hope to see you October 10 and 11 at the Black Bear Inn in Orono.
The Maine Downtown Center is sponsoring a workshop on a "toolbox" for downtown development projects. This workshop will feature explanations and hands-on exercises designed to give you the skills to conduct market analysis in your community and will be conducted by market analysis experts from the Wisconsin Main Street Program and the University of Wisconsin-Extension Center for Community Economic Development who created the program.
The on-line toolbox adopts a new approach to market analysis by separating the process into discrete and achievable components. The toolbox includes building inventory software, standardized survey instruments, market data profiles, and supply and demand analysis techniques by sector. The toolbox goes beyond traditional retail market analysis to include mixed-use development and business clustering.
To preview the toolbox and training manual, please visit: www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/dma
What does this have to do with GIS you may ask? The toolbox includes use of GIS in market analysis, surveying, and other aspects of downtown development.
Adding geographic information system (GIS) capabilities to the building and
business inventory will allow the user to map and query information in
visual, intuitive manners. It can be used to:
The workshop will be presented by Bill Ryan, Community Business Development Specialist and Matthew Kures, GIS State Specialist, both from the Center for Community Economic Development in Wisconsin.
The cost of the workshop is $70 per person, except that individuals from Maine Street Maine communities participate for just $10 (to cover lunch and refreshments). Please contact Craig Freshley at the Maine Downtown Center (cfreshley@mdf.org or 626.3123) if the fee would be a barrier to your participation and you are interested in a scholarship. Please arrive at 8:30 a.m. for registration, coffee and refreshments.
The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Steering Committee presented its recommendations to the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Natural Resources as required by Resolve 23 on January 25, 2002, and is making presentations to other standing committees.
Why Resolve 23? Because local and regional government programs increasingly use GIS, last session the Legislature decided to determine what steps need to be taken to 1) facilitate intergovernmental data exchange and 2) maximize the benefit and minimize the cost of statewide GIS. Resolve 23 established the GIS Steering Committee, and charged it to "study and design a cost-effective statewide GIS, that can be utilized for a variety of planning purposes by all levels of government."
Consequently, through its contractor, Applied Geographics Inc., the Steering Committee conducted a statewide study including comprehensive assessment of local needs for GIS. During the study, 65 interviews were conducted, and 400+ personnel from all areas of Maine provided information to the needs assessment section of the report. (To review the entire report, visit the Steering Committee’s Web site: http://www.apollo.ogis.state.me.us/sc/.)
Problems identified by the study:
Study recommendations: The GIS Steering Committee achieved unanimous agreement on the following recommendations:
What happened and how will this be funded? Legislation was passed to create the Maine Library of Geographic Information, and a partnership-based investment strategy was unanimously recommended by the Steering Committee to start operations. A scaled down funding strategy was ultimately adopted by both the Administration and the Legislature. Funding for the first two years of operation is as follows:
What is next? The “GeoLibrary Board” appointments have been made and the Board will meet some time in October. In November, the Citizens of Maine will vote on the GIS bond issue. If the bond passes, it will be a very busy and exciting year for the Board and GIS users across the State of Maine.
Questions? Comments? Contact the authors via e-mail: mary.cloutier@state.me.us and dan.walters@state.me.us.
The Maine GIS Users Group (MEGUG) will sponsor a competition for students on Applications of GIS in 2003. Winners will receive a $250 scholarship. There will be one category for undergraduate students enrolled in either high school, continuing education, university or college (Applicants must show evidence of enrollment in a high school, college or continuing education course). The project competition will be announced in our newsletter and listserv in May 2003.
Each student needs to develop a professional PowerPoint presentation of 20 minutes length that describes their specific application of GIS. The project could be a class project, an independent study project, or an internship project with which the student is involved.
There will be no project competition this year. We will have an open session to invite all student projects this year in the October conference. MEGUG invites your students to bring their project posters to share with GIS users in this conference.
MEGUG encourages you to share your student GIS projects with all educators and students who are interested in incorporating GIS into their learning, class or curriculum.
In this coming October conference, entitled Remote Sensing for State and Local Government & Using I-Books for Remote Sensing and GIS, we welcome you to participate in a session on incorporating GIS and remote sensing into junior and senior high school curricula.
For more details in regard to year 2003 GIS project competition, please check MEGUG web site at http://www.megug.org/MEGUG/contest.html.
Publication Title: Maine Coordinates
Issue Date: September 2002
Statement of Frequency: Occasional
Authorized Organization: Maine GIS User Group
Issue Number: Vol. 6, No. 2
Notice: Mention of specific companies, products, or brand names does not imply support for or endorsement of those mentioned. Similarly, omission of specific companies, products, or brand names does not imply anything either.