Available Resources in Science Hall and the UW Madison Campus
SHC KB article describing available IT Resources in Science Hall and across the UW Madison Campus
Science Hall Resources:
Science Hall Computing (SHC) Help Desk (http://helpdesk.shc.wisc.edu)
- The SHC Help Desk, located in room M376 on the third-floor mezzanine
level, provides a full-range of support to Geography students, faculty,
and staff. It is staffed by three undergraduate students whose hours
vary day to day. If the Help Desk is not staffed, you can stop by the IT
Manager's office located in room M380. Any requests for assistance
should be addressed in person or via email at shc@geography.wisc.edu.
You can also call the Help Desk at 608-262-8111.
Science Hall VPN (https://helpdesk.shc.wisc.edu/kb/faq.php?cid=1)
- SHC provides a VPN connection option to access files on various
servers on the Science Hall Network from anywhere in the world. You will
need an SHC account to access the SHC VPN - more details on that can be
found at https://helpdesk.shc.wisc.edu/kb/faq.php?cid=4.
M376 Lab
- This lab has a plethora of GIS software for student use, including
ArcGIS, Python, Adobe Creative Suite, OSGeo (GDAL and OGR bindings), and
much more. Much of this software is not available anywhere else on
campus. There are two laser printers, a color and a black and white,
that can be utilized for student work. Access to the lab is controlled
after hours - the key code can be given to undergraduate and graduate
students. See the SHC Help Desk or IT Manager for this code.
Cartography Lab (http://www.geography.wisc.edu/cartography/)
- The Geography Cartography Lab, room M390, provides basic and advanced
cartography assistance, graphic design services, large-format printing,
and much more. Stop by and check it out or email Tanya Buckingham
(tbuckingham@wisc.edu) for more information on the services provided.
Robinson Map Library (http://maplib.geography.wisc.edu/)
- The Robinson Map Library, located on the third floor of Science Hall,
has a large collection of print and online maps available for just
about any need, including the largest collection of print historic
aerial photographs of Wisconsin. You can access Wisconsin GIS data
online as well. The Robinson Map Library has 6 Science Hall Network
computers available, three of which have 11x17 scanners attached to them
for scanning images into a variety of digital formats. The Robinson Map
Library also has a large-format scanner available for scanning
high-resolution images of larger print maps. You can contact them at
608-262-1471 or email Jaime, the Robinson Map Librarian, at
jmartindale@wisc.edu.
Grad server (http://grad.geography.wisc.edu)
- This server, setup especially for UW Geography Grad students, has
space available for hosting personal websites, portfolios, and
Masters/PhD projects. The server contains several open-source software
packages designed to accommodate most GIS applications, including
Python, Node, Git, OpenStreetMap (OSM), PostgreSQL, and more. There is
no quota on space on the server but if a student needs more than 300 GB
he or she should contact the IT Manager for assistance. Contact the IT
Manager via the Help Desk (shc@geography.wisc.edu) for assistance with
setting up an account and hosting any projects on this server.
PostgreSQL Server
- We also have a stand-alone PostgreSQL server for projects that
require a massive amount of data stored in a database. This server can
stand alone and interface with an Amazon Web Service-based application
or integrate with an application hosted on the Grad server. Contact the
IT Manager via the Help Desk (shc@geography.wisc.edu) for a consultation
on using this server for your application or project.
Campus Resources:
DoIT Help Desk (https://it.wisc.edu/help/)
- The DoIT Help Desk is the official support channel for email, NetID,
and other campus-wide services. While the SHC Help Desk can provide a
great range of support we do not have access to many of the tools that
the DoIT Help Desk has, so from time to time we will to the DoIT Help
Desk for assistance. The DoIT Help Desk can be reached in a multitude of
ways. Visit their website for all available contact methods, their
extensive and comprehensive Knowledgebase articles, and online training
for popular software packages.
Center for High Throughput Computing (http://chtc.cs.wisc.edu)
- From their website: "The Center for High Throughput Computing (CHTC)
offers a variety of large-scale computing resources and services for
UW-affiliated researchers and their collaborators, including
classically-defined high-throughput computing (HTC) and high-performance
computing (HPC) resources. CHTC services and hardware are funded by the
National Institute of Health (NIH), the Department of Energy (DOE), the
National Science Foundation (NSF), and various grants from the
University itself.
CHTC resources are provided to all UW-Madison
researchers, free of charge. Even external collaborators with an
on-campus sponsor may be given access to resources."
For more information, please use their contact information available at http://chtc.cs.wisc.edu/get-help.shtml.
DoIT Equipment Checkout (https://it.wisc.edu/services/equipment-checkout/)
- DoIT loans equipment, including iPads, still and video cameras,
laptops, and audio recorders for no cost for up to three days. There are
twenty locations across campus that students can utilize for checking
out equipment. More details on this service can be found at
https://it.wisc.edu/services/equipment-checkout/.
Office 365 (https://email.wisc.edu/)
- Office 365 provides access to your campus email and the Office suite
of software for free during your tenure as a student at UW Madison. More
information, including support documentation, is available at
https://kb.wisc.edu/office365/.
Box - (https://it.wisc.edu/services/box/)
- Box is an online dropbox for storing academic and personal files. It
is web-based and mobile-friendly so it can be easily accessed from
anywhere you have an Internet connection. There is no limit on the
amount of data you can store on Box. Box also allows you to collaborate
and share files with other people even outside of UW Madison. Support
for Box is provided by DoIT and is available online at
https://kb.wisc.edu/box/.
Lynda.com (https://it.wisc.edu/services/online-training-lynda-com/) - Lynda.com is an online training service provided free of charge to faculty, researchers, students, and staff.
goUW (http://go.wisc.edu)
- goUW is a URL-shortening service for the UW Madison campus that
allows people to replace long, unwieldy URLs with simple links.
Questions and support requests for this service should be directed to
the DoIT Help Desk - 608-264-4357.
WiscVPN
(https://it.wisc.edu/services/wiscvpn/) - Similar to the Science Hall
VPN, WiscVPN allows for access to institutional resources that are
restricted outside of the UW Madison network, such as library databases.
WiscVPN also provides a layer of protection on unsecured wi-fi
connections. Please note that Science Hall servers are not accessible on
the WiscVPN service - you must use the Science Hall VPN service to
access files and servers inside of Science Hall.
DoIT Techstore (http://techstore.doit.wisc.edu)
- The DoIT Tech Store provides hardware, software, and repair services
for students at UW Madison. Most software sold at the Techstore is
heavily-discounted for students. They provide Symantec Endpoint
Protect/Antivirus software free of charge for personal use. They can
also advise students on computer purchases and other hardware and
software needs. You can visit them online or at any of their three
campus locations. You can contact them at 608-264-3648.
Wisconsin Integrated Software Catalog (WISC) (http://wiscsoftware.wisc.edu/wisc/)
- WISC software is available for students, faculty, and staff at
highly-discounted rates, including Windows 10 for free! Purchased
software is non-refundable so be sure to contact them prior to placing
any purchases by calling 800-590-9787 or by using the form at
http://wiscsoftware.wisc.edu/wisc/customerservice.asp?institution=1022.