To celebrate this year’s National GIS Day, held on November 20th, FSU Libraries is hosting three book displays across both Dirac Science Library and Strozier Library. The displays highlight the many faces of maps, mapmaking, cartography, GIS data, and so much more that can be found in our collections, and they will be on view for the month of November. GIS Day has been an annual event since 1999, celebrating geographic information systems-based technologies. This annual event coincides with National Geography Awareness Week. These two national events celebrate the significance of geography, environmental issues, and spatial understanding. We hope that by viewing these book displays you will explore the world around you, starting with the maps and books about maps in our stacks right here. FSU Libraries encourages you to visit all three displays this November and to check out any of the books that you find new and interesting!
Learn more about our book displays below and keep reading for an invitation to artfully celebrate GIS Day 2024 in person with us at FSU Libraries on November 20th!
Dirac Science Library
At Dirac Science Library, come see how GIS has become an indispensable tool for STEM, Social Sciences, and Humanities. Its ability to analyze and visualize spatial data makes it valuable in fields such as criminology for mapping crime patterns, social sciences for understanding demographic trends, and public health for tracking disease spread. Environmental scientists use GIS to monitor ecosystems and climate change, while experts in satellite imagery leverage it to interpret remote sensing data. In the humanities, GIS enriches historical research, archaeology, and cultural studies by mapping ancient trade routes, visualizing literary landscapes, and analyzing spatial patterns in art and architecture. In education, GIS serves as both a subject of study and a powerful teaching aid, allowing students to explore complex geographical relationships. This versatile technology enables researchers and practitioners to uncover spatial insights, informing decision-making and policy development across these varied domains. Browse this book display for a sampling of these various uses and research methodologies as found at FSU Libraries book, e-book, and maps collections.
Strozier Library
On the Lower Level of Strozier Library, learn about the art and history of maps. Not limited to scientific tools alone, maps, globes, atlases, and other manifestations of geospatial information have also been prized for their beauty, intricacy, and use of rare materials as art objects for millennia. Learn more through this display about the history of maps as visual culture and heritage traditions through a variety of time periods, cultures, locations, and media. Browse this book display for a sampling of these various mapmaking traditions through time and place as found in our own Strozier book, e-book, and maps collections.
Right outside of the Starbucks Cafe, on the First Floor of Strozier Library, browse the top shelves of the Pop Lit collection to find a selection of fiction and non-fiction books that highlight all things adventure and exploration. Each book selected hosts a map that plays a pivotal role in the story within. Take a break from your textbooks and explore GIS through a more leisurely lens; contemplating how maps, cartography and more impact our lives in the physical and fantasy worlds around us.
Celebrate GIS Day with Art in the Library at FSU Libraries
Join us on Wednesday, 11/20, to celebrate GIS Day 2024 across FSU Libraries! The Art in the Library program will be hosting a hands-on coloring activity with maps and snacks at:
Dirac Science Library lobby, 10am-12pm
Strozier Library near Starbucks Cafe, 1-3pm
Can’t wait to discover new horizons? Check out these e-books on GIS now!
Surveying the Skies, How Astronomers Map the Universe
Creating a smater campus: GIS for educaiton
Understanding GIS through sustainable development goals: case studies with QGIS
New directions in radical cartograpy: why the map is never the territory
Handbook of geopsatial artificial intelligence
Building a smarter community; GIS for state and local goverment
Atlas of Knowledge: Anyone can map
Making deep maps: foundations, approaches, and methods
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