Portland State University

Portland State University will develop the capacity of public libraries to efficiently and effectively use and improve their use of geographic information systems (GIS) technology. The project aims to establish, facilitate, and evaluate an innovative training program and collaborative networking platform between public library staff, geospatial data professionals, and patrons. This project builds upon the work that this team conducted via a fiscal year 2019 IMLS planning grant, where Portland State University established the toolkit “GIS-Mapping Exchange for Public Libraries.” This project will allow library staff to visualize, question, analyze, and interpret data to understand relationships, patterns, and trends, but also will transform how libraries serve their communities.