Getting to Know ArcGIS 4th Edition

Book Preface

Getting to Know ArcGIS is a workbook for students and professionals who are getting started in the field of geographic information systems (GIS). Its detailed, step-by-step exercises teach you the core functionality of ArcGIS for Desktop software: how to make maps, carry out spatial analysis, and build and edit spatial databases in the context of realistic projects. The exercises are supported by conceptual discussions at the start of each chapter and as needed throughout the book. Abundant color graphics confirm your progress along the way.

Getting to Know ArcGIS is a hands-on workbook that’s meant to be a practical manual for classroom lab work or on-thejob training. If you have no GIS background, chapter 1 will give you a quick overview. If you have no ArcGIS software experience, chapter 2 will provide a background on Esri GIS software products. The remaining 18 chapters require you to work through software exercises as you read. Each of these chapters contains two to four exercises that focus on a particular GIS task or problem. Many common tasks are covered, including navigating digital maps, finding GIS data online, setting map projections, symbolizing and labeling maps, classifying data, making map layouts, building spatial databases, editing data, geocoding addresses, querying maps, processing data, and analyzing spatial relationships.

About the software and data

Most of the exercises can be completed with any type of ArcGIS for Desktop license (Basic, Standard, or Advanced), with the exception of chapter 20, which requires a Standard or Advanced license and the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension. Exercises are designed to be performed using ArcGIS 10.2 or 10.3 for Desktop. If you are using an older version of ArcGIS (such as version 10.1), you will be able to do most of the exercises, but your results may be somewhat different. If you are using older software, you should download the latest trial software to use with this book. You can download data for the book exercises and access a 180-day trial version of ArcGIS from the Esri Press “Book Resources” webpage, esripress.esri.com/bookresources. Click the appropriate book title, and then click the appropriate link under “Resources” to download the exercise data and access the trial software. You will need the authorization code found on the inside back cover of this book to download the software trial.

How to use this book

Each new exercise in Getting to Know ArcGIS is a fresh starting point, with the maps and data you need already prepared for you; however, we advise you to complete the chapters in order, because tools and functions introduced and fully described in early chapters may be referred to without description in later chapters. The exercises will work, however, no matter which chapter you start with. Each chapter takes one to two hours to complete.

What’s new in this edition

The fourth edition of Getting to Know ArcGIS retains all of the new elements introduced in the third edition, including learning objectives, chapter summaries, questions for critical thinking, software tips, independent-challenge tasks (“On your own”), and a glossary of key terms. Glossary terms will appear in a different color in the text. The fourth edition includes exercises that are compatible with the most recent versions of ArcGIS for Desktop, a few new datasets and scenarios, new exercises on map sharing and georeferencing, and streamlined and reorganized content that addresses reviewer feedback and provides a smoother learning experience. We also added appendix A, a preview of Esri’s newest software solution for GIS professionals, ArcGIS Pro (available with ArcGIS 10.3). We hope you enjoy Getting to Know ArcGIS.

Michael Law
Toronto, Canada
Amy Collins
Napa, California