IMAGIN - Improving Michigan's Access to Geographic Information Networks
IMAGIN E-News - August, 2006
Current News
IMAGIN to give away $500 to IMAGIN publication contributors The IMAGIN board of directors has decided to reward those IMAGIN members who contribute their time and energy by submitting items for posting on the IMAGIN web site, articles for the IMAGIN E-News and articles for the imagiNEWS newsletter. The reward will be a chance to win one (or more) of the 5 - $100 cash prizes that will be given away at the 2007 Annual conference.
If acceptable to the respective committees/subcommittees, the following items will give you an entry in the give-away:
  • A white paper to be posted on the web site.
  • An informational presentation (PowerPoint or otherwise) for the web site.
  • A "Sample" RFP for web site (actual RFPs do not count).
  • A conference presentation to be posted on the web site.
  • A full E-News article (suggestions do not count).  This includes supporting organization and web mapping site-of-the-month submissions.
  • An imagiNEWS article (suggestions do not count).
Additionally:
  • Submitter must be an IMAGIN member.
  • Each accepted entry will give the contributor 1 chance to win a prize.
  • A person can enter as many times as they wish.
  • Winner need not be present at the Annual Conference to win.
  • Winners will be chosen in a random drawing of all accepted entries.

Note: The board of directors reserves the right to change the criteria and use its discretion to make final decisions on acceptable entries.

The imagiNEWS is a bi-monthly printed publication distributed to IMAGIN members. The Sep/Oct issue of the imagiNEWS will contain a primer on metric oblique, digital aerial technology from Pictometry and a profile of the GIS and related activities at the MSU Map Library.
For more information about becoming an IMAGIN member, see the IMAGIN web site at: http://www.imagin.org/membership/
Michigan State Agriculture Department Receives Federal Conservation Grant - The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) announced that it will receive a $600,000 conservation innovation grant from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to support the delivery of conservation programs in Michigan. For the rest of the article visit this web page: http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/100406
The Michigan Counties Association of Mapping Professionals (MiCAMP) has announced their 11th Annual Michigan County GIS Conference that will be held September 13-15, 2006 at Boyne Mountain Resort. For more information, see the MiCAMP web site at: http://www.micamp.org/
Need a subdivision plat? - The State of Michigan archives plats from around the state and currently has over 66,000 plats on file and has images of over 99% of those plats. View the plats on the State of Michigan web site at: http://www.cis.state.mi.us/platmaps/sr_subs.asp
State of Michigan Imagery Grant Partnership Opportunity - The purpose of the Grant Partnership is to enable the State of Michigan (SOM) to purchase rights to Orthoimages. The SOM will use the original products INTERNALLY among all SOM State Agencies and their contractors for the duration of a project.  SOM needs imagery that is leaf-off and at least 2-foot pixel or better.  It can be either black and white or natural color.
For more information on this opportunity see the web page at: http://www.michigan.gov/cgi/0,1607,7-158--120310--,00.html
Let us hear from you! IMAGIN's E-News is a publication by, for and about IMAGIN's members.
Please send in your contributions for the following categories:
  • Local News Items (It does not have to be earth shattering.)
  • General GIS News items that relate to Michigan
  • Suggestions for Web Mapping Site-of-the-month
  • Training Oportunities Offered in Michigan
  • GIS Tips & Suggestions
  • Local User Group Meetings
  • GIS Related Conferences
  • Job Openings
  • Recent Hires/Promotions
  • GIS Related Events/Meetings
    Send your suggestions to enews@imagin.org
    • Monthly Theme
    This month's theme is "GIS in Michigan Education".
    GIS in High School - The STAR Institute at Lansing's Everett High School offers a GIS course. For more info, see: http://everett.lansingschools.net/dept/star/star_inst.html
    Michigan Individual School District Maps - It's back-to-school time and for those of you who are considering moving to a new home or are curious about exactly what area your school district includes, you can See the PDF maps at: http://www.michigan.gov/cgi/0,1607,7-158-12540_13084-101103--,00.html
    Are you looking for GIS education at the post-secondary level? Here are just a few of the colleges and universities in Michigan that offer GIS related curricula.
    New E-News Theme! - In addition to our permanent 'GIS in Michigan' coverage, we will begin having an additional theme for each monthly issue. This theme will not limit the E-News articles to only this theme, but rather it will provide an additional focus for some of the articles.
    The theme for the September 2006 issue of E-News is 'GIS and Michigan’s Environment'.
    Send any ideas you have relating to the GIS in Michigan or the theme for next month to enews@imagin.org.
    Upcoming Events
  • August 25, 2006: Oakland County GIS Steering Committee, Pontiac, MI
  • September 13-15, 2006: Mi-CAMP 11th Annual Conference, Boyne Mountain, Boyne Falls, MI
  • September 15, 2006, 2:30pm: IMAGIN Conference Com. Mtg., Washtenaw Cnty. Lib., Ann Arbor
  • September 26-29, 2006: URISA 44th Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC
  • October 12 & 13, 2006: Michigan Digital Government Summit, Lansing Center, Lansing, MI
  • May 7-9, 2007: IMAGIN 2007 Annual Conference, Radisson Plaza Hotel, Kalamazoo, MI
  • For more events, see the IMAGIN Calendar of Events
    • Training
    Date(s) D Organization City Description
    Aug. 31- Sept. 1, 2006   ESRI Livonia Introduction to Geoprocessing Scripts Using Python
    September 21-22, 2006   ESRI Livonia Creating and Editing Parcels with ArcGIS
    September 22, 2006 Y MSU RS&GIS E. Lansing Introduction to GPS
    September 26-28, 2006 Y MSU RS&GIS E. Lansing Aerial Imagery Interpretation
    For links to Michigan GIS training facilities visit the IMAGIN training page.
    To include your Michigan GIS training in this list, send the details to: enews@imagin.org
    D = IMAGIN Members get a 10% discount on this training.
    Web Mapping Site of the Month
    CityMap is the City of Birmingham's Internet Mapping application. The site was made public in July 2006. CityMap was developed by PlanSight, LLC and is based on their CivXplorer Pro application. CityMap also utilizes an optional extension called mPower Integrator by mPower Technologies. This extension increases the reporting capabilities of the interface. It is expected that the mapping program will be gradually expanded and improved to provide greater access to public information. The City currently has plans to further develop CityMap by integrating it with their Laserfiche and HTE programs. View the CityMap web site at: http://ci.birmingham.mi.us/, then click "Services" and "Mapping".
    Spotlight on Supporting Organizations
    St. Clair County has many GIS initiatives underway. We recently took full delivery of our 2005 digital orthophotography and have made the 6 inch color aerial available on our parcel search ArcIMS web site (www.stclaircounty.org). We are also in the process of integrating GIS into Emergency Management planning and implementation. The Health Department and Drain Commission are currently mapping Illicit Discharge Elimination Program (IDEP) points for the entire county. They are working through the county by watershed and are currently 75% complete. Metropolitan Planning is working under the Michigan Coastal Management Program to inventory utilities throughout the county for planning purposes. In addition, they are creating a tracking zoning database that traces the zoning history of each individual parcel. The county is currently providing access to 5 Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS). The stations are being used by county organizations as well as private engineering firms. Other GIS related projects include repositioning the tax parcel layer to align with the 2005 digital orthophotography, scanning and positioning of historical aerials, updating mapping software and data used in the sheriff department dispatch center, and our township fire departments are using GPS to capture fire hydrants and other notable features. For more information, contact Justin Burns at 810-985-2250 or jburns@stclaircounty.org.
    Established in 1956, Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber, Inc. (FTC&H) is a professional civil engineering, environmental, architectural/engineering, and construction services consulting firm with five offices located in Michigan and Ohio. Our staff of over 300 works with clients from the industrial, governmental, institutional, and private sectors. FTC&H projects range from small feasibility, planning, and regulatory studies to very large design and construction projects. Our GIS services support environmental assessments and land use analysis, as well as utility planning, modeling, and management.

    For more information about FTC&H, please visit our web site at: www.ftch.com
    Each month, this section will highlight one or two of our supporting organizations. If your organization would like to be in the spotlight, please contact IMAGIN headquarters about becoming a supporting organization.
    Employment
    Job Openings
    Organization Title
    CUPPAD GIS Specialist
    C&S Engineers GIS Developer
    Ducks Unlimited, Inc. GIS Intern
    IDV Solutions Web/Flash Client-Side Developer
    To include your job openings, new hires or promotions in this section, please send the information to enews@imagin.org. Please include the URL for your organization also. Check the IMAGIN jobs page for other openings.
    Technical Notes
    Free & Low Cost Entry Into the World of GIS - Trying to decide how to utilize the dozens of Michigan-based GIS datasets available through the State and other online resources? Especially during these time of tightening budgets? How about utilizing open source or shareware-based GIS appplicatons for your next project? Follow the links below to explore the possibilities! The AccuGlobe and TatukGIS both accept industry standard data and simple querying/analysis of GIS datasets. AccuGlobe user groups can be found locally in Michigan’s Charlevoix County.
    If you have any technical notes you would like to pass along, please send them to enews@imagin.org
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    IMAGIN E-News Information

    Editor - Tara Maguire, GIS Coordinator, City of Birmingham
    Editor - Matt Malone, GIS Coordinator, City of Farmington Hills
    Editor - Brian Buckley, Senior GIS Specialist, Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc.
    Publication Date: August 24, 2006
    E-News Web Page:http://www.imagin.org/resources/enews.html
    Email Address: enews@imagin.org
    Any corrections to the E-News will be posted on the web site above.
    Please email us your comments and suggestions. Thanks!

    © 2006 IMAGIN. All rights reserved.