Q: I am a GIS beginner, where should I start?

Have a look at our introductory workshops . They can help you to get an idea of the possibilities. Check out our lunchtime talks to get some inspiration. Then consider your research question and data. Is there a spatial component in your data? In case you feel unsure, please contact us, we are happy to help you. Furthermore, there are introductory QGIS courses organised by other providers i.e., Zentrale Informatik.

Question 1

How can I keep up to date with the GIS Hub and your workshops?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

Get in touch with us and give us your email address. We are happy to inform you about new events we publish on our website.

Subscribe to us by joining the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) Network. You will then receive the DSI newsletter in which we inform about the GIS Hub activities.

Question 2

How can I register for a workshop?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

Please use the registration form for the workshop you are interested in (see Events). You will then get a confirmation by mail once you have registered.

Question 3

How do I contact the GIS Hub?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

You can contact us via the form here if you have a general question or need help with your project. If you want to join one of our workshops or lunchtime talks, then go to Events and register directly for the event you are interested in.

Question 4

How long do I have to wait to get an answer?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

If you register for an event, you immediately get a confirmation.
If you have a question with regards to content, it depends a lot on the question, but also on our resources. If your question is easy to answer, we can get back to you quite quickly. If things are more complicated, we will advise you and give you an estimate on how long it takes. In the latter case, we will also need some input from you, and it will be more of a collaboration than just delivering an answer to you.

Question 5

How much do the GIS Hub services cost?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

During our project (1 June 2022 to 31 March 2024), our services are covered by the Digital Society Initiative and free for you. But there is a catch in it :-): We do expect you to share your result with us and on our website to further promote our services.

Question 6

I am a GIS beginner, where should I start?

ksolan · Accepted Answer

Have a look at our introductory workshops. They can help you to get an idea of the possibilities. Check out our lunchtime talks to get some inspiration. Then consider your research question and data. Is there a spatial component in your data? In case you feel unsure, please contact us, we are happy to help you.

Furthermore, there are introductory QGIS courses organised by other providers i.e., Zentrale Informatik.

Question 7

I missed the first workshop(s), can I still join in later?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

Not all the workshops are consecutive, so you can still join in later. If prior knowledge is required for a workshop, we specify this. In this case we might help you out with an online tutorial. Please contact us and we will find a solution.

Question 8

I missed workshop X, will there be another edition?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

If there are enough interested people, we consider offering a past workshop again. In this case, please contact us and tell us which workshop you are interested in.

Question 9

What do we expect from you after a workshop?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

We count on your participation in the evaluation of the workshop. In addition, we hope that you actively use a GIS software in your research. If you create a cool result out of your data with a GIS software, we cannot wait to talk about it and publish it on your blog. This will give you some publicity and attention and it will help us to motivate more people using GIS in their research.

Question 10

What happens if I registered for a workshop, but cannot join?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

Please let us know as soon as possible. If there is a waiting list, somebody from that list can join. You can either cancel your registration directly on our website (go to the event and click on the "Already registered?" button) or write us an e-mail (gis-hub@dsi.uzh.ch).

Question 11

What is the difference between GIS and QGIS or ArcGIS?

ksolan · Accepted Answer

GIS stands for Geographic Information System. It is a system containing a database and software tools with which data can be created, stored, managed, analysed, and visualised. QGIS or ArcGIS are names of softwares offering the functionalities of a GIS. This is the short answer. You will find a much more elaborate answer, detailing the advantages of either software, in this blog post.

Question 12

What kind of data (format) is suitable for a GIS analysis or visualisation?

ksolan · Accepted Answer

There must be a spatial component in your data to do a GIS analysis or visualisation. For instance, a GPS track of an animal, historical ship routes, the spread of a disease, the spatial evolution of a language, the distribution of precipitation etc.

For the format of the data there are many possibilities as long as the data is georeferenced. You can start with a csv table for instance. Please contact us if you have any questions, we are happy to help you!

Question 13

What kind of support does the GIS Hub provide?

ksolan · Accepted Answer

The Hub offers three principal services:

a service hub responding to requests for advice
regular practical workshops to develop skills and promote GIS use; and
a free to use web-mapping server, allowing you to publish project results quickly and easily to the web

All the services are free during the duration of the project.

Question 14

Where can I download a GIS software?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

QGIS: You can find the software as well as instructions on how to install it here.

ArcGIS Pro: If you are a UZH member, you can request an ArcGIS Online Account and an ArcGIS Pro Desktop version by filling out the following form.
Outside of UZH, you can sign up for a free trial version of the software here.

Question 15

Where can I find (open) data to practice and work with a GIS software?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

The city of Zurich offers a wide range of open data and so-called showcases if you need some inspiration.

opendata.swiss offers Swiss open governmental data, sorted according to categories.

With your Switch edu-ID you can access Swiss topographic raster and vector maps, digital elevation models and orthophotos provided by GeoVITe.

There are all kinds of open data sources. In case you look for specific open data, get in touch with us.

Question 16

Where can I get support on QGIS?

Katia Soland · Accepted Answer

Please note that some of the documentation provided by QGIS is available in different languages. Just click on the dropdown in the upper right corner to change it from English to another language:

Documentation (qgis.org)

QGIS User Guide

QGIS Training Manual

QGIS - YouTube Channel

Books: Books (qgis.org)

Question 17

Which GIS Software do you recommend starting with?

ksolan · Accepted Answer

You could start with QGIS, an open-source GIS software. It runs on the most common operating systems (Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows, and Android) and supports numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities.
You could start with ArcGIS Online, which is a cloud-based mapping platform. No need to install, update or maintain anything. As a student or researcher at UZH, you can register here for free. ArcGIS Online comes with additional apps. You will find more information on ArcGIS Online on our Tutorials site.
Or you could also start with ArcGIS Pro, for which a license is needed.

Question 18

Which GIS Software does the GIS Hub work with?

ksolan · Accepted Answer

We work with different GIS softwares. If you don’t have any licence, you might try QGIS, an open-source GIS software. It runs on the most common operating systems (Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows, and Android) and supports numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities.

FAQ

Kontakt

Wie kontaktiere ich den GIS Hub?

Daten und Unterstützung

Ich habe GIS noch nie gebraucht, wo oder wie soll ich starten?

Welche Art von Daten(format) eignet sich für die Analyse und Visualisation mit einer GIS Software?

Welche Art von Unterstützung bietet der GIS Hub an?

Wo finde ich (offene) Daten, um mit einer GIS Software zu üben und zu arbeiten?

Welche GIS Software empfehlt ihr für Anfänger*innen?

Mit welcher GIS Software arbeitet ihr beim GIS Hub?

GIS und GIS Software

Was ist der Unterschied zwischen GIS und QGIS oder ArcGIS?

Wo kann ich eine GIS Software herunterladen?

Wo finde ich (offene) Daten, um mit einer GIS Software zu üben und zu arbeiten?

Wo erhalte ich Unterstützung zu QGIS?

Antwortzeit und Kosten

Wie lange muss ich auf eine Antwort des GIS Hubs warten?

Was kosten die GIS Hub Services?

Workshops

Wie bleibe ich bezüglich GIS Hub und euren Workshops auf dem Laufenden?

Wie kann ich mich für einen Workshop anmelden?

Ich habe den/die erste(n) Workhop(s) verpasst, kann ich auch später einsteigen?

Ich habe den Workshop X verpasst. Organisiert ihr diesen nochmals?

Was erwartet ihr von mir nach einem Workshop?

Was mache ich, wenn ich mich für einen Workshop angemeldet habe, aber doch nicht teilnehmen kann?