--- Start of Idrisi List message
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> --- Start of Idrisi List message
> In a message dated 7/7/99 11:37:59 AM Central Daylight Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> << The other side of the deal relates to what sort of graduates are we
> hoping to produce? As it is, many graduates cannot get GIS jobs because
> they do not have enough Arc / Erdas / MapInfo etc experience. Employers
> do not seem to recognise a sound theoretical GIS background and
> experience with Idrisi. While being behind with software is not always a
> problem in this respect (Idrisi is a fair example of this V2 over V1),
> one only has to look back to Erdas when it changed from Erdas V7.5 (Dos)
> to Erdas Imagine, which was a whole new beast altogether. Thus, what I
> am getting at (eventually) is do we (as HE) not have an obligation and
> do students not have a right (as paying customers) to be using and
> gaining experience with industry current software?
> >>
>
> As an employer, who understands GIS, I look for people with a sound GIS
> education, not some experience clicking buttons in ArcView! IDRISI forces
> students to understand the logical steps in handling raster images and
> teaches a methodical approach to GIS. Many people I have encountered with an
> Arc background do not understand the thought process involved with raster
> images!
This is precisely my feeling. I regularly have to deal with people with
little or no apparent background in geography, who are nevertheless able
to make some or other package (usually Arcview, but that is the most
used one here) produce maps. The information contained on those maps
appears to be a secondary concern to the appearance of the map and the
amount of data in the database that went into its production. I have
seen some horrendous geological maps produced from databases that I know
and use, the worst was a dolomitic aquifer - the subject of the study -
labelled as granite. Because I see these from different sources, I get
the sense that there is something seriously lacking in a lot of the GIS
training people are receiving.
Idrisi on the other hand certainly allows people to think - or is it
that thinking people use Idrisi:-). Most GIS people I deal with who have
actually heard of Idrisi, have a list of its shortcomings - and there
are a few - and that's all they know about it. Is this also part of the
training that they receive.
With regard to the increasing cost of Idrisi, are people on the list
using GRASS. I have installed it and started playing, and so far I like
what I see. This could provide a free alternative to Idrisi for GIS
labs.
Henk
------------------------------------------------
Henk Coetzee
Geophysics Unit
Council for Geoscience
Private Bag X112, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa
Tel: +27-12-841-1192 Fax: +27-12-841-1424
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