Over the past decade, members of the HGIS lab have created a host of free online courses to help other scholars learn how to use digital mapping programs (QGIS, ArcGIS, ArcPro) for historical research. We have also created a host of other tutorials to help provide training in digital scholarship, databases, transcriptions, citation software, and visualizations. 

Below is a list of the free-to-use training material we've created:

QGIS Online Course (20 hours):

In this course, you will learn to use the free and open-source mapping program QGIS. This course is designed for novices with no prior experience in map making. By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • create a custom-built map for use in conference presentations or publications
  • georeference historical maps
  • create an animated time series map
  • create, link and analyze custom built datasets
  • apply the basics rules surround symbolization to the maps you create

QGIS Textbook

This textbook offers an alternative to the online course listed above. This textbook is free and provides a deeper overview of the theoretical and methodological basis behind digital map making. It also contains a wide array of detailed tutorials. These tutorials cover many of the same skills as the online course, but offer different datasets and different approaches to teaching providing an alternative approach to learning core skills. By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • create a custom-built map for use in conference presentations or publications
  • georeference historical maps
  • manage datasets
  • apply the basics rules surround symbolization to the maps you create

ArcGIS and ArcPRO (~15 hours)

ArcGIS and ArcPro are proprietary mapping software ($$) created by ESRI. These programs are more intuitive to learn than QGIS and are well suited for online mapping (story maps etc). Licenses for this software, however, is expensive. By the end of these tutorials, you will be able to:

  • create a custom-built map for use in conference presentations or publications
  • georeference historical maps
  • apply the basics rules surround symbolization to the maps you create

Data Entry and Analysis (12-15 hours):

This course provides training in transcriptions, citations (Zotero), spreadsheets (excel), data cleaning, data analysis/visualization, relational databases (Microsoft Access), and data normalizations. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:

  • Transcription
    • Transcribe handwritten documents of varying difficulties
    • Use optical character recognition, AI, and online software to automate transcription from text and audio
  • Citations and Backups
    • Create archival citations using open-source software Zotero
    • Create a meaningful data backup plan
  • Spreadsheets
    • Design an excel spreadsheet to store and standardize historical data
    • Clean, check, and validate data
    • Analyze data using pivot tables and formulas
    • Visualize data through tables and charts
    • Handle dates prior to 1900
    • Construct dynamic visualizations and labels
  • Relational Databases
    • Import, query, and check data
    • Normalize data