The CSES Land Information Collaboratory (CLIC lab) was established in 1998 by the Department of Crop & Soil Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech as an information and analysis resource for faculty, students and the increasingly internet-savvy public.  The physical laboratory resides at the CSES Department in Smyth Hall of Virginia Tech, but the concept of a collaboratory takes us beyond these physical boundaries.

A Collaboratory is a laboratory for the application of resources that facilitate effective collaboration in ways that are much less constrained by the logistics of time (people and information being available at the same time) and space (people and information being in the same geographic location).  Through the integration of GIS and Internet technologies,  CLIC databases and resources can be made available and usable to potential users anywhere, anytime.