LibGuides: Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Home

Map Curator

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

GIS is a system that allows researchers to store, manipulate, analyze, visualize, and present geographic data in a spatial manner.

Use this research guide to locate data to use within GIS software, such as ArcGIS or QGIS.

You can access licensed ArcGIS software on campus at the following locations:

Department of Geography GIS Lab: The Geography GIS Lab is reserved for Geography students or students enrolled in a Geography course.

Map Collection: The University Library Map Collection (OV 26) maintains two workstations where you can access ArcMap and QGIS software.

Users can also download and configure QGIS, which is an open-source GIS platform, on their personal machines (Windows or Mac).

City of Los Angeles GeoHub
Platform for finding and downloading geospatial data related to the City of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County GIS Data Portal
GIS data created, maintained, licensed, and stored by the County of Los Angeles.
U.S. Census Bureau Census Data
US Census Bureau demographic data for the United States, Puerto Rico, and Island areas.
Awesome Public Datasets
A list of topic-centered public datasets, including some geospatial data, curated from various public agencies.
The National Map (USGS)
Find and download geographic data like digital elevation models (DEMs), hydrography, and National Land Cover dataset from various federal agencies.
National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS)
"The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) provides easy access to summary tables and time series of population, housing, agriculture, and economic data, along with GIS-compatible boundary files, for years from 1790 through the present and for all levels of U.S. census geography, including states, counties, tracts, and blocks."