Geothink in the Okanagan: A Winter Student Exchange

This is a guest post from Geothink Student Tenille Brown, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. She writes about her experiences as the first student in Geothink’s student exchange program. By Tenille Brown This past winter, I had the opportunity to be the inaugural ‘student visiting researcher’ through a new Geothink learning initiative focusing on student exchanges. Geothink is a … Read More

GIS on Campus: Join Claus Rinner for GIS Day at Ryerson

By Naomi Bloch This Wednesday, November 18, marks the 16th annual GIS Day. Throughout the week, Geothink will present a series of posts looking at some of the ways in which our collaborators, partners, and friends around the world are critically examining and using GIS as a tool for civic engagement and understanding. The community snapshots presented this week highlight diverse perspectives and uses … Read More

Spotlight on Recent Publications: Critical Reflections on Outcomes from Three Geoweb Partnerships

By Naomi Bloch Exploring university–community partnerships Participatory geospatial technologies have the potential to support and promote citizen engagement. This great promise has led to more collaborations between academics and community partners interested in pursuing this aim. In their recently published paper, “A web of expectations: Evolving relationships in community participatory geoweb projects,” four Geothink researchers and their colleagues cast a reflective eye … Read More

Crosspost: How is your Toronto neighbourhood portrayed in the news? Check it out using these interactive maps

This post is cross-posted with permission from April Lindgren and Christina Wong at Local News Research Project.  By April Lindgren and Christina Wong Introduction Concerns about how neighbourhoods are portrayed in the news have surfaced regularly in the Toronto area over the years. But are those concerns valid? Interactive maps produced by the The Local News Research Project (LNRP) at … Read More

Hopping the Geofence: A Quick Look at Geofencing Practices

By Matthew Tenney As we walk, drive, or skip down the road most of us are actively sharing bits of information about ourselves to anyone who cares to listen. The piece(s) of mobile technology we carry with us, nearly ever place we go, is being bombarded by a field of sensors that hear where and who we are.  Often these … Read More

Explorations In Geoweb – The Important Relationship Between Geoweb and Open Data

The Geoweb (related to open data) depends on open data to remain functional and accurate. This relationship functions in reverse as well, in that the support, use, and maintenance of open data can depend on Geoweb applications. One of the factors that influence public support is the perception of use and accessibility of the data. Without public support, open data … Read More

Explorations in Geoweb – What is geoweb?

The geoweb (geospatial web) describes functions of the internet that make use of geographic metadata. It provides geographical context for analysis and synthesis of information that enables a wholesome and dynamic perspective with increased potential for innovative data uses (source). The geoweb opens up a completely new dimension of the Internet and the way we use information, it is part … Read More