For the past three years, the Islesboro community has been learning and using geographic information systems (GIS). GIS is a digital means of organizing data based on place. A GIS arranges data (such as streets or parcels) into layers that can be overlapped and analyzed, providing a great deal of information about a certain place at once. This technology is used at Islesboro Central School to enhance curriculum with place-based education projects and in municipal functions through town committees and the assessor’s office.
In the 2003-2004 school year, students used GIS to learn about their local community. Ninth and tenth grade biology students used the technology to map a local lobsterman’s catch information from the 2003 fishing season. Students studied population dynamics and then applied that information to observe where lobsters were caught with relationship to bottom type and depth throughout the season. At the end of the project, students presented the maps and graphs they had created from the catch data to the lobsterman.
In addition, middle school social studies students mapped 15 local historical houses using GIS. After mapping the location of each building, the students took several months to research the history of each house by talking with residents and reading local history books. At the end of the project, students published a book of maps and historical narratives for each of the houses and created large format maps, which they presented to the Islesboro Historical Society.
Sheila Coombs, Islesboro’s seventh and eighth grade social studies teacher, said, “This project was a great way to engage students in their communityÖthey learned local history and new technology. Our students really got excited about what the were learning and the information they were able to give the historical society.” Similar projects are planned for the upcoming school year.
The town of Islesboro is also using GIS and has created a formal GIS Governing Board to facilitate understanding, collection and sharing of GIS information throughout the community. Throughout the year, the governing board met to review ongoing GIS projects on the island.
GIS has been used at Planning Board meetings as a useful tool for visualizing lots under discussion. The assessor uses GIS to show information about tax parcels. The cemetery, harbor, and groundwater protection committees also use GIS to store information.
In the spring of 2004, the GIS Governing Board applied to the Maine Geolibrary Board for a grant to digitize Islesboro’s tax parcels. Islesboro’s digital parcel data is becoming outdated. The parcel grant will allow Islesboro to increase the accuracy of its data and bring the information up to date. The grant was recently awarded to the board, which plans to have the updated parcel layer within a year.
Islesboro Selectman Grayson Hartley says, “We are proud of the progress that has been made in three years in the development and use of GIS on Islesboro.”
The updated parcel layer is an important next step in incorporating GIS into further town functions, and continuing to grow these projects in the future.