Accessing assistance

For assistance with GIS, geospatial data, and maps send an email to Sarah (Tong) Zhang, Librarian for Geography, GIS, & Maps, at tza68@sfu.ca or book a GIS consultation. 

Access points for geospatial data

SFU Library 

ABACUS 
The licensed geospatial data that SFU Library has purchased are available for instant download in SFU's section of ABACUS. Browse datasets or use the search box in the top right to search by keyword(s). ABACUS also contains statistical and numeric data. See also the Public Data Collection in ABACUS (no SFU login required). 

Integrated Cadastral Information Society (ICIS) Data
Use the data product descriptions to identify the geospatial datasets that are useful to you. Then identify the specific dataset titles using the ICIS File Manifest in the "Data & Analysis" tab in ABACUS. The GIS & Map Librarian (Sarah (Tong) Zhang; tza68@sfu.ca) can download the following types of geospatial data on behalf of SFU researchers:

• Cadastral data for all of BC
• AddressBC Data
• Assessment Fabric Layer Data from BC Assessment
• Canadian Wildlife Service
• Agricultural Land Reserve
• Health Authority Locations
• Conservation Parcels
• Police Jurisdictions

BC Geographic Data - Many products on this page are free and can be downloaded by anyone. However, some have a cost. The GIS & Map Librarian (Sarah (Tong) Zhang; tza68@sfu.ca) can download the following products on behalf of SFU researchers for free or a reduced cost. These products are for academic use only. 

• Terrain Resource Information Management Program (TRIM) data - Contains two geospatial datasets: TRIM DEM, which consists of shapefiles for elevation points and breaklines, and TRIM Positional, which consists of various layers for contours, cultural features, landcover, transportation and water. Both sets are for a scale of 1:20,000. 
• Hillshade Imagery
• TRIM gridded DEM map sheet (25 m resolution)
• Orthophotos - Available at a reduced rate of $25 per mapsheet for SFU researchers. Many lower resolution scans available for free via the Province's Orthophoto Viewer. 
• Digital airphotos - High resolution TIFFs available at a rate of $18.50 per photo for SFU researchers. Many lower resolution scans available for free via the Province's Air Photo Viewer and Historical Air Photo Index Map Viewer. Also of note: the Geographic Information Centre (GIC) at UBC has the largest collection of hard copy air photos in BC and scans may be obtained by visiting the GIC in person. 

LandScan Global Population
Country-level demographic data, 1st level admin demographic data, pixel (1km²) level data, and a layer with area calculations for population density. Country and 1st level admin level data include age, gender, and age-by-gender population breakdowns. 

Open Data catalogues and pages

• Many government bodies (municipalities, government ministries, provinces, nations, and others) increasingly make geospatial data available via open data catalogues, portals, and webpages. You can generally locate these by searching for the name of your municipality, ministry, region, or province + "open data" in Google. Note that sometimes you won't find data at the most granular level and will have to take a step back—you can often use regional, provincial, or even national data to get a municipality, for example.
• Open data portals across Canada - Not an exhaustive list. If you don't see the area that you're looking for, use the search technique mentioned above.
• A few especially good or important local Open Data catalogues:
  • District of North Vancouver Open Data
  • City of Vancouver Open Data
  • Surrey Open Data
  • Open Data Burnaby
  • BC Open Data
• A few important sources of geospatial data at the provincial level:
  • BC Soil Information Finder Tool
  • BC Administrative Boundaries datasets
  • BC Ministry of Energy and Mines spatial data

Google 

Google can be a great way to locate datasets. Things to keep in mind:

• Google search commands will let you have more control and make your search more effective. In general, you want to nest each of your concepts in parentheses and use OR within the parentheses to combine synonyms and related terms. For example:
  (parks OR trails OR "green space" OR "street trees").
  Using quotation marks around phrases will make Google search for an exact phrase. Consult the Library's Search tips for Google and Google Scholar for more information. 
• You need to use geospatial keywords like the following in your search: GIS, shapefile, shp, “spatial data”, geospatial, "open data"

• As an example, searching Google for: 
  ("tree inventory" OR "street trees") Ottawa (geospatial OR "open data")
  Brings me to this page in the City of Ottawa's data catalogue, where I can download a shapefile or kmz of street trees in Ottawa. 

Organizations and research groups

• Many organizations and research groups produce and share geospatial data. Check their websites! Look for sections with names like: "Data", Tools", "Resources", "Research". If you are unsuccessful in locating data via an organization's website and have reason to believe that they produce data that will be helpful in your work, consider contacting the organization. 
• Selected data/web maps via organizations:
  • British Columbia Marine Conservation Analysis 
  • International Water Management Institute
  • Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC) of British Columbia
  • Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium Data Portal 

Academic library data catalogues and portals

Many academic library data catalogues or portals contain Open Data that anyone can download; here are a few that do. 

Scholars Geoportal - Ontario Council of University Libraries 
MIT GeoWeb - MIT, Harvard, Tufts, MassGIS
ABACUS Public Data Collection - UBC, SFU, UVic, UNBC

Citing data 

• You must cite any datasets used in your work just as you would cite a journal article or book. It is generally best practice to cite each layer that you use. Please consult these Recommended guides for citing maps and geospatial data.