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GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Interest Group

Member Group Annual Report

CHAIR / OFFICERS

Chair: Cynthia Henry, Texas Tech University

Vice-chair: Alexander Marden, University of Texas at Austin

Subcommittee Chairs:

Events & Social Planning: Joshua Been, Baylor University

Survey & Outreach: Kate McNally Carter, University of Houston

Data Collaboration Co-Chairs: Alexander Marden and Michael Shensky, both of University of Texas at Austin

TDL STAFF LIAISON

Megan Hernandez 

MEMBERSHIP

The GIS Interest Group’s up to date charter | GIS interest group | 2024 describes its membership policy, which is open to “all non-commercial parties who would like to learn, contribute to, or discuss GIS.” Chair and Vice-chair roles must be occupied by affiliates of TDL member institutions.  This year the GISIG gained new members while others left, and while we haven’t grown, the GISIG has welcomed fresh faces and ideas.  There are somewhere between 10 and 12 members on average to the larger monthly GIS meeting held on the 4th Friday of the month at 2 pm. See GIS STATS.xlsx

Institutions represented in the active membership include University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at San Antonio, Baylor University, Texas Tech University, University of Houston, Sam Houston State University, Southern Methodist University, University of Texas at Arlington,  and more. Attendance is recorded at monthly meetings and subcommittee meetings.

INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES

The GIS Interest Group hosts a variety of events throughout the year and is actively involved in various projects. Below is a summary of the major initiatives and events slated for 2024. 

Projects:

• Updated the group charter to reflect current group structure and clarify TDL support

• Established updated process for maintaining GIS Across Texas Libraries survey and dashboard

• Updated the GISIG Confluence page to increase visibility of the group

• Made significant progress on creating shared metadata crosswalks for the GeoSteer project which will facilitate sharing of geospatial metadata records between institutions and allow them to be ingested into GeoBlacklight based geospatial data portals

• Continuing to work towards video interview series: Stories of GIS Across Texas: GIS Practitioners in Higher Education

Events:

• GIS Birds of a Feather @ TCDL - May 22, 2024

  • This event was not as successful as last year 2023. In 2023 approximately 30 attended at 10:00 am, this year 2024 only 15 attended at Lunch/noon.  

• GIS session at TCDL - Mapping Paths Forward: Highlights of GIS Projects from Across Texas

  • Events Subcommittee developed session - May 22, 2024

• Informal GISIG dinner/social event @ TCDL - May 22, 2024

• GIS Spotlight: Data & Games!  - July 17, 2024

• Pre-GIS Day Celebration - November 13, 2024

GROUP STATUS

A highlight for the GISIG is that TDL awarded the Service Award in 2024  to the group, citing that this group is impacting the TDL community by sharing knowledge and camaraderie around GIS.  TDL noted that this group consists of newcomers and GIS experts who actively support a community of practice. The GISIG was overwhelmed by the acknowledgement of all the work the group was accomplishing from TDL by granting this award. 

The GIS Interest Group is very active, meeting on a monthly basis as a larger interest group with additional monthly meetings for most of its subcommittees. After discussing with the GISIG, it was affirmed that meetings will continue to be scheduled for 2024 on the 4th Friday of each month at 2pm CST, though this meeting time may vary from year to year according to the preferences of the group.

Each subcommittee holds regular meetings throughout the year, and has established their own procedures and timelines to guide their work. The Events & Social Planning Subcommittee meets monthly on the first Tuesday of each month at 10am CST; the Data Collaboration Subcommittee meets on the last Tuesday of each month at 10am CST; and the Survey & Outreach Subcommittee meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 10am CST. All of this is available from the 2024 Leadership and Subcommittee List.

The GIS Interest Group would like to request an extension for another 1-year term from TDL.