GIS Educational Software

The GIS Concepts Digital Slide Shows (gCON)

The Tutorial Map Analysis Package (tMAP)

The Academic Map Analysis Package (aMAP)

There are two software systems supporting the material presented in Beyond Mapping: Concepts, Algorithms, and Issues in GIS (Berry, 1993; GIS World Books) and in Spatial Reasoning for Effective GIS (Berry, 1995; GIS World Books) — a set of "digital slide shows" demonstrating GIS concepts and a set of "hands-on" tutorials providing practical experience.  The GIS Concepts (gCON) digital slide shows provide a thorough graphic explanation of many of the concepts described in both books.  The Tutorial Map Analysis Package (tMAP) is an easy way to get your hands on GIS technology and gain experience in the application of map analysis concepts.  The slide shows and tutorials are cross referenced to the topics contained in both books (online documentation with the software or the Appendix in the books).  The Academic Map Analysis Package (aMAP) supports college-level instruction in map analysis and GIS modeling concepts and contains specially designed instructor materials and multi-user licenses for both the tMAP and gCON software.

***Note: the gCON educational materials have been enhanced and upgraded for Windows/NT; now available as MapCalc Learner for students and MapCalc Academic for instructors... see www.redhensystems.com

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The GIS Concepts Digital Slide Shows (gCON^TM)

The gCON system is designed for self-learning map analysis concepts through slide sets demonstrating GIS procedures and applications.  The software contains 19 digital slide shows that are cross referenced to the topics presented in the Beyond Mapping and Spatial Reasoning books.  These slides extend and more thoroughly develop many of the figures in the books.  They are organized into four groupings of Basic Concepts, Analytical Concepts, Modeling Concepts, and Applications.

The gCON slides were developed by Joseph K. Berry for use in a wide variety of university courses and professional workshops presented over the past twenty years.  Most of the slides were generated using the tMAP system and are cross referenced to "hands-on" tutorials.  Many of the slides contain tMAP commands that can be run for practical experience with the concepts and applications presented in the slide sets.  The slides were selected from the GIS Digital Slide Show Series developed by Berry & Associates.

gCON Specifications

Disk Format: two 3.5", DS/HD, DOS formatted (1.44MB) diskettes

Environment: Any personal computer with a hard disk, EGA or higher color graphics, Intel compatible 286 or higher central processor and DOS Version 3.2 or higher operating system; operates as a DOS application under Windows 3.1 or higher.

Presentation Software: graphic files are in .PIC format and are accessed using the Presents Slide Show Utility by Media Cybernetics, Inc. under distribution license to Berry & Associates.

Copyrights and Licensing: 1995 gCON Version 1.1 by Berry & Associates.  All Rights Reserved.  Single-user license for personal, non-commercial use only.

gCON Digital Slide Shows

The gCON system contains 19 digital slide shows.  The following groups the slide shows by their content and online documentation cross references the slide shows to the topics in the Beyond Mapping and Spatial Reasoning books.

Content Groupings:

Basic Concepts

• OVIEW.EXE - introduction to computer mapping, management and analysis
• DBCONS.EXE - discussion of database concepts
• DTERM.EXE - discussion of data structure terminology
• DSTRUC.EXE - discussion of data structure formats and relative advantages
• CONS.EXE - discussion of general considerations in GIS

Analytical Concepts

• FUNCT.EXE - outline of the fundamental classes of analytic GIS functions
• STAT.EXE - introduction to treating maps as data using spatial stat/math
• SSTAT.EXE - description of the iterative smoothing interpolation technique
• DIST.EXE - description of effective distance measurement
• VIEW.EXE - description of visual analysis
• SHAPE.EXE - examples of quantitative measure for assessing feature shape

Modeling Concepts

• HUMANE.EXE - discussion of a procedure to link model logic to GIS commands
• HONEST.EXE - discussion of mapping uncertainty and error propagation
• LSLIDE.EXE - landslide susceptibility demonstrating binary, rating, weighted average and extended models
• RUSLE.EXE - soil loss model demonstrating a disaggregated, spatial model

Applications

• BB-BK.EXE - conflict resolution model of island planning for conservation, research and development
• SED.EXE - sediment loading potential model considering slope and cover for variable-width buffers
• F-RESP.EXE - wildfire response model based on both on- and off-road conditions
• F-RISK.EXE - wildfire risk model based on fuel loading, detection and response time

The GIS Concepts Digital Slide Shows (gCON) software is available for US$21.95* plus shipping and handling from Adams Trade Press, ATTN: Jorgie Skogseth, 2101 South Arlington Heights Road, Suite 150, Arlington Heights, Illinois,USA 60005; Phone 800-396-3939 or 847-427-9512; Fax -2037; Email jskogseth@mail.aip.com; books and software package prices are available.  (* as of 6/98) For more information about the BM/SR books and gCON/tMAP software contact: Berry & Associates, 2000 South College Avenue, Suite 300, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone 970-490-2155; Fax -2300; Email joeb@cnr.colostate.edu.