SAL Spatial Data Laboratory

This facility, located in 41.G03B, is provided for staff and students of the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences but is available to other users by appointment. Requests for new material are handled by the curator and the resource collection regularly supplies display material for the School and Faculty.

The resource material currently includes approximately:

• 30,000 maps
• 10,000 air photos
• 200 atlases, globes, gazetteers and wall maps
• 500 sets of explanatory notes
• 4,000 pamphlets, books and associated published resources
• 50 CD’s of published digital data packages

and provides access to a range of other resources in the graphics, cartography and storage fields as well as access to stereoscopes, Brunton compasses, GPS units and can provide some assistance with binding, mounting and laminating.

Richard Miller, the Map Curator, is usually available on Mondays, Tuesdays and then Friday afternoons.

The Map Collection contains hard copy material and mapping related resources available to the School for teaching, research and reference. Most of the hardcopy material held is of Australia, New South Wales and the Illawarra; both topographic and thematic. Limited resources covering other parts of the globe are available. Index sheets are available for the main series showing names, numbers and holdings. SEES staff and postgraduate students are allowed to take material on loan using the booking system provided. Undergraduate students may only access the SDL under the supervision of the map curator. Material is not available for loan and must be used within SDL.

The Aerial Photography Collection is mostly of the Illawarra, Jervis Bay and the South Coast. Photography of the Wollongong area dates back to the late 1930’s, for other areas it is mostly post 1960’s.  The early photography is all black and white. Post 1980’s, colour is usually available. Some enlargements are held. Files, based on 1:100,000 sheet numbering, are kept, showing flight diagrams and our holdings. Because of the cost, uniqueness and fragility of some of the holdings, aerial photographs are for use within SDL except with the express permission of the Curator.

The Spatial Data Repository is a growing collection of digital spatial data resources. The data comes from a variety of sources and potential users must supply information on their intended use so that the request can be assessed against the terms of the licences. The Spatial Repository can be searched by title, theme, coverage and a detailed search where all records containing the entered term are displayed.