Workshops: To Catch a Thief

As I previously stated, I am very excited about the workshops planned for this semester. Click here to see the official schedule, or here to see my original blog post describing the three workshops.

The workshop that I am most excited about is To Catch a Thief. Here are the details:

Title: To Catch a Thief
Time: Thursday, March 2, 3pm - 5pm
Location: Central Library, Room B-20
Description: Use state-of-the-art GIS (geographic information systems) to analyze crime patterns, predict potential targets, and try to track down the burglar. These fictitious burglaries all take place in Tarrant County, Texas. This is a hands-on demo with no GIS or criminal justice experience required.

Play to Win!
Each Friday during the month of February (Feb. 3, 10, 17, 24), we will be releasing evidence about these ongoing fictitious burglaries. The burglar might strike once or even twice during the week. Eye witnesses might report a seemingly irrelevant piece of information which might be critical. These clues will be released on flyers around campus, on the Libraries'’ website, and in on the University Calendar. If you can figure out the means of transportation taken by the burglar (how he is getting around) during the burglaries, email it to gislib@uta.edu. Faculty, students, or staff who send correct answers will be in a random drawing during the workshop, held on March 2. The deadline to guess is midnight (CST) on March 1. Winners will receive one free poster-sized print job by in the Library's Digital Media Studio.

I will be releasing the clues simultaneously here as well. Should be lots of fun.

In addition, next Thursday we are sponsoring the first of our geographic edutainment events, an open showing of the ESRI Live Training Seminar, Understanding Spatial Statistics in ArcGIS 9. We'll see how many folks join us...