Course Scope and Purpose

Geographic information systems (GIS) are fundamentally information systems, typically built on database management technologies. Although GIS offers special facilities for storing and            manipulating spatial data, much of the functionality provided by GIS is shared with                       conventional database software and its ubiquitous Structured Query Language (SQL). Thus,        understanding database principles is the foundation for mastering the technical aspects of GIS.

This course provides a high-level tour of the theoretical underpinnings of databases containing  both spatial and tabular data, as these are integrated into GIS. The core objective of the course  is a practical one: to understand the fundamental principles of the design and implementation   of well-conceived spatial databases, especially Esri geodatabases and SQL server databases, and be able to manipulate them both inside and outside of GIS.

In this course, we examine the fundamentals of relational, object-oriented, and unstructured    databases. A major benefit of the relational model is that it provides a metaphor that is closer  to the way humans think about data than did previous database models. Yet within GIS, some   authors have argued that the object-oriented model provides an inherently more suitable basis for storing geographical data than the relational model . The unstructured model is increasingly being used to support applications including big data storage and retrieval (e.g. Twitter,              Facebook, Google). The influence of object-oriented concepts has become steadily more            dominant throughout virtually every aspect of modern computing. Anyone wishing to pursue a career in GIS, in fact in any aspect of computing, should gain an understanding of both the         relational and object-oriented models with respect to spatial databases.

By both necessity and design, this course serves several different audiences. This course is a    required course for the Spatial Data Management and Spatial Computing tracks in the M.S. in Geographic Information Science & Technology, the GIS track in the M.S. in Transportation        Systems Management, and as an elective course in the M.S. in Spatial Economics and Data       Analysis, M.S. in Spatial Data Science, and Geographic Information Science & Technology and  the Geospatial Leadership Graduate Certificate Programs . The different student audiences are provided with a variety of options to work with core geospatial datasets throughout the           semester that best coincide with their personal academic and career goals.

Learning Objectives

When you have completed this course, you will be able to:

•   Define a geographical realm of interest, model that realm diagrammatically and narratively, and implement the model in a geodatabase.

•   Use SQL statements to interrogate spatial databases to accomplish data loading, maintenance, map production, and analysis.

•   Discuss the complexity of the geographic world and techniques for modeling it in a computer.

•   Explain the strengths and limitations of various databases and non-relational structures for spatial data, including those supported by Esri’s ArcGIS platform and open-source    systems.

Students may vary in their competency levels on these abilities. You can expect to acquire these abilities only if you honor all course policies, attend classes regularly, complete all assigned         work in good faith and on time, and meet all other course expectations of you as a student.

Prerequisite(s): SSCI 581 or permission of the instructor

Co-Requisite(s): None

Class Conduct

Harassment, sexual misconduct, interpersonal violence, and stalking are not tolerated by the university. All faculty and most staff are considered Responsible Employees by the university    and must forward all information they receive about these types of situations to the Title IX      Coordinator. The Title IX Coordinator is responsible for assisting students with supportive          accommodations, including academic accommodations, as well as investigating these incidents if the reporting student wants an investigation.  The Title IX office is also responsible for             coordinating supportive measures for transgender and nonbinary students such as faculty         notifications, and more.  If you need supportive accommodations, you may contact the Title IX Coordinator directly (titleix@usc.eduor 213-821-8298) without sharing any personal                   information with me. If you would like to speak with a confidential counselor, Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Services (RSVP) provides 24/7 confidential support for students       (213-740-9355 (WELL); press 0 after hours).

COVID-19 policy -- Students are expected to comply with all aspects of USC’s COVID-19 policy  including, but not limited to, vaccination, indoor mask mandate, and daily TrojanCheck. Failure to do so may result in removal from the class and referral to Student Judicial Affairs and            Community Standards. Students are recommended to keep safe physical distancing, whenever possible, to prevent any possible transmission. Please contact your instructor if you have any   safety concerns.

Diversity and Inclusion – It is my intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and               perspectives be well served by this course, that students’ learning needs be addressed both in   and out of class, and that the diversity that students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is my intent to present materials and activities that are respectful to       everyone, and you are also expected to respect of others regardless of their race, ethnicity,        gender identity and expressions, cultural beliefs, religion, sexual orientation, national origin,      age, abilities, ideas and perspectives, or socioeconomic status. Your suggestions are                     encouraged and appreciated. Feel free to let me know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally or for other students.

Course Structure

The main theoretical concepts are provided through lectures, discussion and a directed reading of the textbooks and supplementary readings. Additional readings will be assigned to expand    on the text when needed. The course will generally unfold on a biweekly or triweekly basis.       When possible, assignments will be given in advance, but usually they will be posted on or         before Mondays.

Workload – This is a four credit, one semester course. Students should expect to spend 10-15 hours per week completing the work in this course.

Technological and Communication Requirements

ArcGIS Pro, MS SQL Server Management Studio, and PostGIS are provided online via the SSI    Server; hence, you do not need to install these systems on your own computer. Instead, every student must have the following technology requirements:

•   A computer with a fast Internet connection.

•   A functional webcam and a microphone for use whenever a presentation or meeting is scheduled.

•   An up-to-date web browser to access the SSI Server.

You might need to record short videos explaining your project work, but I will show you how to use free, available online tools to do so.

Desire2Learn (D2L) – This course will utilize the Desire2Learn (D2L) learning management           system which allows students to access course content, upload assignments, participate in   discussion forms, among other learning experiences.  The D2L platform provides flexibility in the learning experience where students can participate in the course residentially or              remotely, synchronously (meeting together at the same time) or asynchronously (accessing  videos and course content outside of class).

SSI Server and Tech Support – This course utilizes the SSI Server which is a virtual desktop giving access to many different professional software . If you are unable to connect to the server or

experience any type of technical issues, send an email using your USC account to SSI Tech

Support atspatial_support@usc.edumaking sure to copy (cc) me on the email.

Communications – All assignments given and all materials to be handed in will be submitted via D2L. The instructor will also create and monitor discussion forums through which students   can discuss issues and assignments as needed.  Students should read all email sent from D2L or from course instructor(s) as soon as possible.  Also, students who do not regularly use       their USC email accounts should double-check to be sure that mail sent from both the D2L    accounts and the instructor’s account (noted above) to your USC account is forwarded to an address used regularly and does not go into junk mail.  The instructor will endeavor to           respond to all email within 24 hours of receipt, aiming for no more than 72 hours delay.  In   the rare case that an instructor is off-line for an extended periodof time, an announcement

will be posted to the class D2L site.  Due to the synchronous and asynchronous nature of this course, it is each student's responsibility to stay informed and connected with others in our  course. In addition to email, students are expectedto login to D2L regularly to check for          announcements.

Discussion forums – On the D2L site, I will post a series of discussion threads relevant to various sections of the course. Discussions provide a key means for student-to-student discussion     and collaboration that can replicate the face-to-face contact you may have experienced in    traditional classrooms. Here students can provide support to each other while working on     your assignments, sharing hints and helpful tips, as you would in a classroom laboratory.       Please post your questions about assignments there, as you would ask them publicly in the   classroom. I monitor the discussion threads and offer comments when necessary, but more  importantly, consider the discussion board a key way to connect with your classmates and    share your discoveries .

Required Readings and Supplementary Materials

The required textbook for this course is:

•   Yeung, A. K. W., and G. B. Hall. 2007. Spatial Database Systems: Design, Implementation and Project Management. Dordrecht: Springer. While you may purchase this book if you wish to own a bound copy, it is available online through the USC Libraries. Sign on to the USC Libraries and search for this title. Used copies of this book are widely available

online, so there is no need to pay the full retail price.

Supplementary readings will be assigned from various sources including:

•   Auziņš, A., E. Jānis, V. Alīna, and D. Reinis. 2018. Object-Relational Database Structure Model and Structure Optimisation. Applied Computer Systems 23(1): 28-36.

•   Blaser, M. 2014. Ontology and indigeneity: on the political ontology of heterogeneous assemblages. Cultural Geographies 21(1): 49-58.

•   Burrough, P. A., R. McDonnell, R. A. McDonnell, and C. D. Lloyd. 2015. Spatial data and their models: formal abstractions of reality . In Principles of geographical information systems, 3rd ed. (pp. 21-44). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

•   Couclelis, H. 1992. People Manipulate Objects (But Cultivate Fields): Beyond the Raster- Vector Debate in GIS. In A. U. Frank, I. Campari, and U. Formentini (Eds.), Therories and methods of spatio-temporal reasoning in geographic space (pp. 65-77). London, UK:       Springer.

•   Dangermond, J., and M. F. Goodchild. 2020. Building Geospatial Infrastructure. Geo- saptial Information Science 23 (1): 1-9

•   Dietrich, S. W., and S. D. Urban. 2011. Introduction to Object Database. In

Fundamentals of Object Databases Object-Oriented and Object-Relational Design (pp. 1- 30). San Rafael, California: Morgan & Claypool .

•   Harrington, J. L. 2011. Simple SQL Retrieval In SQL Clearly Explained, 3rd ed. (pp. 77- 105 and pp. 363-399). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Morgan Kaufmann Elsevier.

•   Hunter, G. J. 2002. Understanding Semantics and Ontologies: They're Quite Simple, Really - If You Know What I Mean. Transactions in GIS 6(2): 83-87.

•   Lee, J.-G. and M. Kang. 2015. Geospatial Big Data: Challenges and Opportunities. Big Data Research 2(2): 74-81.

•   Li, Z. 2018. NoSQL Databases . The Geographic Information Science & Technology Body of Knowledge, 2nd Quarter 2018 ed. John P. Wilson (Ed).

•   Li, W., M. Batty, and M. F. Goodchild. 2020. Real-Time GIS for Smart Cities. International Journal of Geographic Information Science 34(2): 311-324.

•   Parent, C., S. Spaccapietra, and E. Zimányi. 2006. Introduction. In Conceptual modeling for traditional and spatio-temporal applications: The MADS approach . Berlin, Germany: Springer Science & Business Media.

•   Shekhar, S., and S. Chawla. 2003. Spatial Concepts and Data Models. In Spatial Databases: A Tour, 1st ed. (pp. 22-51). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

•   Shekhar, S., and S. Chawla. 2003. Spatial Query Languages . In Spatial Databases: A Tour, 1st ed. (pp. 52-82) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

•   Shekhar, S., and S. Chawla. 2003. Spatial Storage and Indexing . In Spatial Databases: A Tour, 1st ed. (pp. 83- 113). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

As well, for several of the assignments in this course, you will conduct online library research to find articles that apply specific techniques in an application area of your choice.

Description and Assessment of Assignments

Weekly Assignments

Your grade in this course will be determined on the basis of several different assessments .

Resume Assignments – 2 worth a total of 5 points. We require all current students to post and maintain a public resume, short biography and recent photo on our shared SSI Student       Community Blackboard site. Please prepare your resume in the SSI template which will be provided to you. A second resume assignment provides you a chance to add any newly       learned tools and project products in this course to your resume. Unless you opt out, your resume will be included in the Spatial Sciences Institute Graduate Programs Resume            Book. This resume book is compiled annually and, along with our web presence, is used to promote our programs, and more importantly, your skills, experience and professional        aspirations.

Projects – 5 worth a total of 40 points. The hands-on, project-based Projects will be used to    practice the techniques discussed in abstract terms in the text. At the completion of each   Project, you will prepare a brief written report to demonstrate that you have completed it.

Reading and Research Assignments – 4 worth a total of 20 points. These assignments call on     students to critically analyze required readings, identify relevant case studies employing the methodologies and concepts we cover in class, and to discuss them with the instructor and  their classmates during synchronous meetings and/or online discussion forums via D2L.

Discussions – 5 worth a total of 15 points. Structured discussions will focus on combinations of theory and practice. You will post new message and replies to messages posted by your       classmates (i.e. two per forum) at specified times throughout the semester.

Comprehensive Exam – 1 worth a total of 20 points. The comprehensive exam will cover            material learned throughout the duration of the semester. It may be mixed format and may consist of multiple choice, short answer, and simple problem questions.

Grading Breakdown

Assignment Submission Policy

Unless otherwise noted, assignments must be submitted via D2L by the due dates specified in the Course Schedule below and on the assignment instructions.

Project components have different due dates as indicated on the Course Schedule below. Your attention to on-time assignment submission is essential if I am to meet my goal to return          comments on your submitted assignments before the next one is due. Sometimes this is           impossible, so I will post a notice on anticipated delays if needed .

Penalties apply for late assignments as follows:

•   All assignments will be penalized 2 points up to FOUR days late. No points will be given  for submissions more than FOUR days late. Note that all assignments worth 2 points will receive 0 points if submitted late.

•   Additionally, no written work will be accepted for grading after 5 pm PT on the last day of classes.