General Information

Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) is the company that produces the popular ArcGIS software, used heavily in industry, government, and academia. The University of Wisconsin System has a system-wide site license for ESRI software, so most campuses have access to ArcGIS in classrooms and labs.  Although often seen as the industry standard, there are emerging software programs like QGIS that are more frequently being used in classroom instruction at UW-Madison (in conjunction with ArcGIS). 

The UW-Madison Library Workshop "Introduction to GIS" utilizes ArcGIS software to demonstrate concepts and simple operations for analysis.

Several labs and libraries on campus have ArcGIS installed for use by UW faculty, staff, and students for research projects and classroom assignments.

Obtaining/Accessing ESRI Software Licenses for use at UW-Madison:

ArcGIS Desktop

Student software is at the ArcInfo license level and includes the Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst, Geostatistical Analyst, Data Interoperability, Publisher, Schematics, Tracking Analyst, ArcScan, Maplex and Network Analyst extensions.

Under our UW site license, any student can install ArcGIS Desktop (or ArcGIS Pro, see below) on their personal computers. Installation media for ArcMap and Pro are at: https://uwmadison.box.com/s/m49xai7gvvw1xz62qmhpb6bggkj0pp4n  Users will need to authenticate with their UW NetID credentials.

For ArcGIS Desktop, see folders named Desktop, with the latest version and sometimes older ones.  Within those folders, download the installation media you wish.  For Desktop, you will want ArcGIS_Desktop_*****.exe, which should be installed first.  Most people also install the BackgroundGP (Geoprocessing), and some also the Data_interoperability extension. There is a Box Note describing the files.

To license the software, email a request to esri@dpla.wisc.edu 
All licenses expire July 31 each year, and you can request a renewal beginning  July 1.

For questions about student and other licensed versions of ESRI software at UW, visit the UW-Madison ESRI Software Information website FAQ or contact UW's  ESRI site license manager Math Heinzel.

ArcGIS Pro

Under our UW site license, any student can install ArcGIS Pro on their personal computers. Installation media for ArcGIS Pro are at: https://uwmadison.box.com/s/m49xai7gvvw1xz62qmhpb6bggkj0pp4n

Users will need to authenticate with their UW NetID credentials. Once ArcGIS Pro is installed, users can choose the "Enterprise Login" and enter the following URL: uw-mad.maps.arcgis.com - this will prompt a NetID login to the UW-Madison enterprise license for ArcGIS Pro.

For questions about student and other licensed versions of ESRI software at UW, visit the UW-Madison ESRI Software Information website FAQ or contact UW's  ESRI site license manager Math Heinzel.

Connecting Remotely for UW-Madison affiliates:

ArcGIS Desktop and Pro are available remotely via UW-Madison DoIT’s Virtual lab Access

Software for UW-Madison Academic Departments

If you are faculty or staff in one of the following departments, you can get ESRI software installation media directly from your departmental support staff (this list changes frequently)

Ag & Applied Economics
Business School 
CAE   
CEE  
Community & Environmental Sociology   
Computer Sciences 
Forest & Wildlife Ecology  
Geography 
Geoscience 
LICGF
Planning & Landscape Architecture          
Population Health Sciences
Rural Sociology 
Sea Grant  
SAGE   
SSEC
Soil Science 
Zoology

Software

Quantum GIS
FREE
Quantum GIS (QGIS) is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) licensed under the GNU General Public License. QGIS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). It runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows and Android and supports numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities.

DIVA GIS
FREE
DIVA-GIS is a free computer program for mapping and geographic data analysis (a geographic information system (GIS). With DIVA-GIS you can make maps of the world, or of a very small area, using, for example, state boundaries, rivers, a satellite image, and the locations of sites where an animal species was observed. We also provide free spatial data for the whole world that you can use in DIVA-GIS or other programs.

ENVI
LICENSE (available in the Robinson Map Library and Geography Library)
Geospatial imagery is used to evaluate biodiversity, detect and identify targets, plan emergency response efforts and a variety of other applications important to understanding the world around you. ENVI is the premier software solution for processing and analyzing geospatial imagery and is designed to be used by everyone from GIS professionals to image analysts and image scientists, regardless of prior experience with imagery.

GRASS GIS
FREE
Commonly referred to as GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System), is a free Geographic Information System (GIS) software used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, graphics/maps production, spatial modeling, and visualization. GRASS GIS is currently used in academic and commercial settings around the world, as well as by many governmental agencies and environmental consulting companies. GRASS GIS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

Scribble Maps
FREE
Scribble Maps and Scribble Maps Pro are both free products that enable users to create customized maps online. Users can mark up maps, measure distances, import KMLs, Shapefiles, tabular files, add placemarks, text, images, and shapes. Finished maps may be embedded into webpages or exported in various formats.

MAPme
FREE
Mapme is similar to Scribble Maps in that users can customized maps by adding points, labels, lines, images, then share their product with others via URLs or widgets.

Free Online Utilities

Axis Maps Resources
Resources for cartographers of all experience levels.  Free utilities include: IndieMapper, TypeBrewer, Color Brewer 2.0, and a code library.

BatchGeo
Geocode addresses. Make a Google map with the addresses, or export latitude/longitude coordinates for export to a GIS.Zonums KML to ship

KML to SHP
Zonums Software offers several utilities including: Epoint2GE: Excel to Google Earth; Kml2shp 2: Google Earth to GIS; DigiPoint 2: Points export from Google Maps; Shp2kml 2: Shapefile to Google Earth; Epoint2CAD: Excel to AutoCAD; Ucons: Units Conversion Tool; Color-it: Color your Map; KMLTolbox: KML online tools

NYPL Map Warper
The NYPL Map Warper is a tool for digitally aligning ("rectifying") historical maps from the NYPL's collections to match today's precise maps. Visitors can browse already rectified maps or assist the NYPL by aligning a map.