Cal Poly to Join in 'GIS Day 2001'

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- As part of a worldwide grass-roots effort,
Cal Poly is planning to take part in GIS Day 2001, a daylong event on
Nov. 14 designed to illustrate the benefits of geographic information
systems to children, community members and colleagues.

Talks, demonstrations and exhibits will be part of the event, set for 8
a.m.-5 p.m. in the Kennedy Library on campus.

Staff members from Cal Poly's Kennedy Library and the city and county
of San Luis Obispo will present real-world, local applications of GIS
technology to the public.

The event is being celebrated around the globe by such organizations as
the National Geographic Society, the Association of American
Geographers, the University Consortium for Geographic Information
Science, the United States Geological Survey, the Library of Congress,
and Environmental Systems Research Institute, a leading vendor of GIS
software.

Students, the faculty and staff members from the university's
BioResource and Agricultural Engineering, Biological Sciences, City and
Regional Planning, Forestry and Natural Resources, Geography and
Landscape Architecture programs, as well as the Kennedy Library, will
demonstrate how GIS is used in teaching and research.

San Luis Obispo city staff members will show how satellite imagery and
GIS are used. Bobby Jo Close from the California Conservation Corps
will demonstrate the process by which GIS data are collected.

Student projects will be on display on the first floor of the Kennedy
Library Nov. 1-14.

The San Luis Obispo Geographic Information Consortium Web site at
http://www.slogic.org/ has information on the events scheduled throughout GIS
Day. Or contact Melissa Mertogul, Kennedy Library, at 756-6399 or
e-mail mmertogu@calpoly.edu.
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