Michigan State University

MSU Libraries GIS Services and Guides

Introduction to georeferencing

 

ESRI (makers of ArcGIS) defines georeferencing as "Aligning geographic data to a known coordinate system so it can be viewed, queried, and analyzed with other geographic data."  Plainly, this means that georeferencing allows to you import historical maps or aerial photos into a GIS project! 

The MSU workshop will guide you through the process of georeferencing an historic map using QGIS in order to view changes to our north campus through time.

Georeferencing Video

Update:  If you are using a newer version of QGIS than what is depicted in this video, install the plugin "QuickMapServices" instead of OpenLayers (which doesn't exist any more).

GIS Librarian

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Amanda Tickner
Contact:
atickner@msu.edu
(517) 884-9432