Gary Sherman's Desktop GIS: Mapping the Planet with Open Source Tools

When journalists are looking for software, they usually greet the words "open source" in one of two ways: with confusion, because open source software is still a daunting mystery; or with delight, because the software is available for free.

Open source software is simply software that is available at no cost and has its source code available to the public. A network of users and developers constantly enhances and expands the program.

Elizabeth Lucas is a master’s student at the Missouri School of Journalism and a data analyst for the IRE and NICAR database library.

I drive by an elementary school on my way to work every day. More than once there’s been a police cruiser idling in the school’s parking lot with lights flashing and the officer standing nearby.

Although those incidents never involved a major crime, on several occasions this year the Tulsa World has chronicled arrests at schools.

Gavin Off is the data editor at the Tulsa World in Oklahoma and a former analyst for the IRE and NICAR Database Library.