Washington College GIS Program

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a way of digitally mapping data in a visual way that allows geographic data to be stored, displayed and analyzed. Geographic Information Systems can be used in a variety of ways, including crime prevention, public health, and historical research.

GIS takes data from spreadsheets and tables and converts them to more visually comprehensible ways, and allows you to work with large quantities of data from a variety of sources. These different sources can be displayed simultaneously as layers of information stacked on top of each other, to allow a more comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand.