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I will build a 16 hour (2 day) course on QGIS for ArcGIS users. The target users that breathe and sleep ArcGIS. As we're trying to reduce our costs, we're thinking of switching some people to QGIS and having a floater ArcGIS license rather than have everyone with it. I've used QGIS extensively and very familiar with it (versions 0.7 to 1.8)

Are there any course materials that are specific to "QGIS to ArcGIS" or that target advanced operations in QGIS?

PolyGeo
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dassouki
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    partially related - http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/7957/migrate-from-arcgis-to-qgis – Mapperz Sep 18 '12 at 17:43
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    also related- http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/33458/which-topics-are-essential-for-a-crash-course-in-qgis – RyanKDalton Sep 18 '12 at 17:58
  • @RyanDalton I agree, I find that most resources cover the basics from GIS up, where as I intend to do something advanced in qgis as the users i'll be addressing are quiet advanced, smart, and knowledgeable. I don't want them to feel like they're wasting their time – dassouki Sep 18 '12 at 18:03
  • Do you mean "ArcGIS to QGIS" in your last line? – Spacedman Sep 19 '12 at 07:18

2 Answers2

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The QGIS project site's How Do I Do That in QGIS should be a good starting point.

It is intended to show how to perform basic GIS operations in QGIS in the most straightforward way. It is modelled after “How do I do that in ArcGIS/Manifold?: illustrating classic GIS tasks”. That document illustrated a selection of tasks which were thought to be representative of common usage in 2004, and was itself derived from a checklist of essential GIS functions that was included in 1988 in “A Process for Selecting Geographic Information Systems”.

You might have a hard time looking for materials that target advanced operations QGIS operations, though. Those usually are part of paid training sessions offered by consulting companies. I think you're better off asking your users what operations they need and then mapping them to the QGIS equivalents, assuming there are any. You can then build your own materials based on those. That way, you'd end up with customized materials that actually meet your users needs.

R.K.
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    Thanks for the advice. I definitely have some topics I will be covering. I also like the site you linked as they provide a rough outline. I can follow it and set up a mini workshop or examples for them – dassouki Sep 18 '12 at 18:07
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    +1 for "asking your users what operations and then mapping them to the QGIS equivalents". I'd extend that with "and watch what they do", if you can (c.f. http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2008/02/i-repeat-do-not-listen-to-your-users.html) – matt wilkie Sep 18 '12 at 21:28
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    @dassouki You're welcome. You can then offer your own advanced QGIS training courses or maybe offer the materials for free ;-) Good luck :) – R.K. Sep 19 '12 at 07:14
  • @mattwilkie Thanks. I learned the value of getting user input the hard way. Those things tend to stick. Would it be okay to add your suggestion to my answer? I'll credit you of course :) – R.K. Sep 19 '12 at 07:15
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    Yes, please do fold the comment in. You don't need to ask BTW, that's the way things generally work around here. :) – matt wilkie Sep 20 '12 at 17:37
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Sounds like an interesting course. Speaking mostly from an ArcGIS user perspective, I would personally like to see methods used to accomplish tasks in QGIS/python that ArcGIS users typically accomplish with Spatial Analyst Tools (e.g. Extract by Mask, Raster Calculator, Kernel Density, Hillshade, etc.)

A very good tutorial site can be found here: Quantum GIS (QGIS) Tutorials

Integrating QGIS and python here: PyQGIS Developer Cookbook

Aaron
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