Library:HSS GIS Abacus

From UBC Wiki

The UBC Library hosts geospatial data on a server called Abacus.

You should login to Abacus using your library bar code/PIN or your CWL login so that you can download UBC licensed data sets. Public datasets require no login.

Abacus Home Page

To find GIS data, enter a geographical area or topic in the search box. Expand either the Licensed data or Public data trees by clicking the plus sign icon, then selecting Geospatial (GIS)

Browsing for GIS data

If you cannot find appropriate data after entering a geographical area in your search, enter a larger geographical area covering that region. For example, data covering the City of Vancouver may be found under British Columbia or Canada.


Some major datasets in the UBC Library collection include:

  • ArcCanada 3.1
Basemap data at the provincial level for all of Canada
  • ESRI Data and Maps 9.3
Basemap data at the national level for Canada and the USA, and at the continental level for the world
  • CanMap RouteLogistics
Key features include significant roads, local streets, speed limits, address range data, land use, major waterways and rail lines for Canada
  • CanMap Streetfiles
Similar to CanMap RouteLogistics, but with less variety of datasets
  • Census of Canada, Road Network File
Canada's national road network, containing street names, types, direction and address ranges