MDL Tutorials
You may have noticed that many GIS datasets contain information about a geographic extent that is larger than your area of interest. Your research may involve analysis of data related to a single municipality in Ontario, yet you have only been able to locate a dataset showing all municipalities located within the province. Alternatively, you may be interested in only displaying a selection of features on your completed map, such as the Canadian cities you have selected as case studies for your research. This tutorial will demonstrate how to extract just the features you need from larger datasets, saving them to new files that you can then use to map and analyze your data.
This tutorial demonstrates how to find paper maps and atlases in the University of Toronto Libraries catalogue, then locate them in Map & Data Library's fifth floor collection.
Georeferencing is the name given to the process of transforming a scanned map or aerial photograph so it appears “in place” in GIS. By associating features on the scanned image with real world x and y coordinates, the software can progressively warp the image so it fits to other spatial datasets. This tutorial will explain how to georeference a raster image in ArcGIS so it can then be used as an overlay or for digitizing purposes. In this example, a historic Toronto map will be georeferenced using a dataset of city streets so we can see what existed on the site of Robarts Library before it was built.
In order for many GIS functions to work properly, your datasets need to be stored in a common projected coordinate system. This guide will assist you with the projection process in ArcGIS. (Unsure of what the appropriate projection is for your area of interest? Refer to this help document or ask a staff member for assistance in helping you determine it.)
This tutorial will help users learn how to properly use the Map and Data Library's large format scanner.
Digital elevation models (DEMs) are geospatial datasets that contain elevation values sampled according to a regularly spaced rectangular grid. They can be used in terrain analysis, 3D visualizations, and hydrological modelling, among other applications. DEMs can be stored in several different formats, however conversion into a raster dataset is often required for many processes. This tutorial explains how to derive DEM rasters in ArcGIS from several different sources.