School of Information: Information Technology

Information Technologies Course Waiver

Students with significant incoming technology experience may apply to waive taking INFO 654 Information Technologies.  First, you should review the syllabus to assess your existing familiarity with the topics covered. Then, if you wish to apply to waive the course, send the following to si@pratt.edu for review:

• A few sentences describing your past/current technology work and why you would like to waive the course
• Your resume
• A portfolio (or other demonstration of your work), if you have one

If you are approved for the course waiver, you will be notified within one week and a letter to that effect will be added to your file. 

Tech Tutor and Design Tutor

The School of Information provides a graduate assistant during the fall and spring semesters to help students with issues with digital technology as well as graduate assistant to help students with design tool issues (e.g., tools like Adobe Creative Suite). Please check signs outside of the School of Information Office (room 601) for days and times when the Tech Tutor and Design Tutors are available, or reach-out over email/phone (si@pratt.edu or 212-647-7682).

Technology In The Classroom

We provide a list of hardware and software available in each classroom.

Please note that 6th floor classrooms are unlocked Monday through Thursday 10am to 9:30pm during the fall and spring semesters. At other times, SI students can request that any classroom be unlocked for their use when it is not being used by another course or purpose. Note that weekend or late-night use requires notification of the security department. Please contact the School of Information office if you have classroom access requests.  For more information on classrooms, please visit our Location, Facilities and Hours webpage. 

For technical issues with a computer on the 6th floor, please contact the W14 helpdesk: w14labs@pratt.edu, 212.647.7197 or visit the service window on the 5th floor.  The SI office staff in room 601 can also reach out to IT on your behalf.

For more information on technology at Pratt, please visit the Technology Resources webpage

Geospatial Datasets

Geospatial software and data resources are managed by Pratt’s Spatial Analysis and Visualization Initiative (SAVI). 

The Institute has a site license for Esri’s ArcGIS tools, including ArcGIS Pro desktop software and ArcGIS Online web mapping services. To obtain access to a license, please contact savi@pratt.edu. Esri’s ArcGIS software is available on PC computers in the Higgins Hall, Machinery, and Engineering Computer labs on the Brooklyn campus for students to use. It is also installed in room 501 and 518 on the Manhattan campus. ArcGIS is available for off campus use through Launchpad and PrattAnywhere. Alternatively, fill out this form to request a copy of the software to install on your home computer. (Note: ArcGIS is not compatible with MacOS. Mac users will need Bootcamp or Parallels to run ArcGIS.)

Geospatial data are widely available from city, state, federal, and non-profit sources. These organizations’ websites and APIs are the best source for up-to-date versions of data. For lists of data resources, see the Pratt Library Research Guide on Maps & GIS and the SAVI Guide to GIS Data and Tools.

Zotero Group

Zotero is a useful tool for managing sources, and Zotero groups allow members to share citations and files online. The School of Information Zotero group allows you to store, organize, and share scholarly sources with the community.

To join the group, please log in to (or create) your Zotero account and request membership via the group page. Once you are a member, you can view file attachments, add new items, edit existing metadata, and manage collections. Further instructions are included on the group page, and general information on Zotero is available in Pratt’s Zotero Libguide and Zotero documentation.