Course tutor: Derek Teasdale
Course length: 1 day
Course structure: Indoor session

Cost £40 (concessions £37)

This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to the concepts of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) through the use of the free open-source software package, QGIS. The morning session will cover GIS data types, file formats, coordinate reference systems (and jargon!). We will then move on to explore the QGIS package itself through the use of worked examples using real-world data. Participants will then have the opportunity to input and map their own data sets. The aim is to create a relaxed, informal atmosphere where participants can quickly discover the basics of QGIS, and save themselves a huge amount of initial effort.

Requirements:

1. A laptop computer with a working installation of QGIS. There will not be time to install QGIS on the day - this must be done prior to the workshop. See below for further instructions. NOTE: THIS IS A HANDS-ON WORKSHOP, SO BRING YOUR COMPUTER WITH YOU ON THE DAY.
2. Participants should have reasonably good I.T. skills: i.e. be proficient with Office type software, be able to install software, create directories and move files on their operating systems.
3. The workshop is aimed at those with either very limited experience of GIS in general, or experience of other GIS packages (e.g. ArcGIS).

Installation of QGIS:
The GIS software that we will be using is QGIS: https://qgis.org/en/site/

QGIS is a user fiendly visual interface (or front-end) that allows numerous small back-end programs to manipulate and map geographical data. QGIS versions are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD and Android. They can be downloaded from: https://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html

The latest version, with the most features, is v3.10. An older, more stable version, v3.4, is also fully supported. If in doubt, install the older stable version (also known as the Long Term Release). Our basic introduction will not need the features of the latest version. The course will also show you how to easily upgrade QGIS using the tools included with the package.

QGIS has excellent documentation and an active user community. Documentation and training materials can be found at: https://qgis.org/en/docs/index.html

It would be very helpful if you could work through the QGIS "Gentle Introduction to GIS", prior to the course. The workshop will briefly look at some of this material, which can be found at: https://docs.qgis.org/3.4/en/docs/gentle_gis_introduction/

Workshop Leader:
Derek Teasdale has over twenty years experience of using and teaching GIS systems. He was the GIS lead at the University of Durham, I.T. Service, where he ran numerous training courses and assisted researchers develop advanced GIS solutions, using ArcGIS. For the last ten years, Derek has concentrated on developing an expertise in using QGIS, especially in the use of LiDAR data, Digital Elevation Models(DEMs) and surface relief modelling.

NB. You must be an NHSN member to attend this course. Please visit our website to join: http://www.nhsn.ncl.ac.uk/join-us/become-a-member/

The terms and conditions of booking on NHSN education courses can be accessed via the link below. Please refer to section '2. Refunds Policy' regarding non-refundable cancellations: http://www.nhsn.ncl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NHSN-Education-Courses-Terms-Conditions-MASTER-March-2019.pdf