Official Launch Scheduled for Earth Day on April 22

 Redlands, California—April 22, 2009—Among the many displays and interactive activities at the new Sam J. Racadio Library and Environmental Learning Center in Highland, California, is a geographic information system (GIS) kiosk. Recently installed by ESRI, the kiosk uses ArcReader and ArcGIS Online software to promote the use of maps for environmental purposes by those doing research or who are simply curious about a particular place.

Commenting on what is available at the kiosk, Ray Carnes, ESRI technical marketing specialist, says, "Data about the positive impacts that people are having on the environment are showcased through a variety of maps, which range in scale from the library itself to the entire planet. For example, the Highland city map shows environmentally sensitive businesses and community resources. United States maps show the locations and characteristics of the country's top 10 most sustainable cities, and the Map of the Global Human Footprint illustrates the human impact on every square kilometer on earth."

The data necessary to create these maps comes from a variety of sources including the County of San Bernardino, ESRI, SustainLane.com, Readers Digest, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Jessica Sutorus, director of the Environmental Learning Center, says, "The center provides resources, activities, materials, and programs to improve environmental literacy. Patrons are using it to learn more about the impact they, their community, and others, are having on the environment, and the implementation of the GIS kiosk is a big part of this educational process."


About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.