Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop: The Basics of ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo Updated for ArcGIS 9 (Getting to Know series) [Paperback]

Tim Ormsby (Author), Eileen Napoleon (Author), Robert Burke (Author), Eileen J. Napoleon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Getting to Know | Publication Date: June 1, 2004

With revised material and new exercises based on ArcGIS version 9, this updated work acquaints geographers and GIS professionals with the principles of GIS as it teaches the mechanics of using ArcGIS software. Conceptual material is followed by scripted software exercises. Necessary GIS skills are presented in a variety of areas--map symbology, data overlay, map projection, and data conversion--as the making of maps and the analysis of geographic data is conceptualized. Spatial modeling exercises using the Model Builder technology of ArcGIS version 9 are also provided. Other topics covered include organizing data, planning a GIS project, creating derived data, and presenting results.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tim Ormsby, Eileen Napoleon, Robert Burke, Carolyn Groessl, and Laura Feaster are all technical writers at ESRI Press and authors of "Getting to Know ArcView GIS" and "Extending ArcView GIS," They live in Redlands, California.

Burke is an ESRI instructors.

After receiving her master's degree in geography, Eileen J. Napoleon went to work as a geographer, first for the U.S. Forest Service, and later for ESRI, where she has worked in GIS education for the last 15 years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 572 pages
• Publisher: ESRI Press; 2nd,Updated edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158948083X
• ISBN-13: 978-1589480834
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Geography > Information Systems

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for GIS beginners!, October 23, 2004

By 

Kristen O'Hare "New to GIS" (North Bay, On, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop: The Basics of ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo Updated for ArcGIS 9 (Getting to Know series) (Paperback)

A great step by step guide for those unfimliar with GIS. The book starts at the beginning and works its way from there. It does not assume anything. Also it comes with a fully functional 180 day trial cd of ArcGIS 9.0 and accompanying data, which allows you complete the lessions included in this book. Overall a wonderful guide. I am so glad I purchased it!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A software manual: tells you where to click, but not why, February 9, 2007

By 

F. Gibbons (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop: The Basics of ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo Updated for ArcGIS 9 (Getting to Know series) (Paperback)

I'm giving this five stars, because I think it does a simple job well. It does NOT give you any real conceptual basis for GIS (aside from a one-page introduction to each chapter). It is basically a step-by-step guide to accomplishing some predefined tasks in ArcGIS, and it does that really well.

I'm using it in a GIS class right now. The book is divided into sections of a few chapters each. Sections have a common theme running through them, in terms of the subject matter they work with. In Chapters 3 and 4, you're trying to find where Amelia Earheart and her pilot went down; in Ch. 5 & 6, you're making a collection of maps of Africa, showing population density, location of different kinds of wildlife, symbologising rivers according to whether they're perennial or seasonal. Having interesting data to work with helps you work through the tedium of "Right click on the Countries layer (NOT the Countries data frame", now "Select 'Open Table'", etc. Going back and forth between book and screen is tedious, but interesting data makes it easier. Furthermore, little comments like the parenthetical NOT above, help to make sure that you're doing what you're supposed to be. You do get the impression that the authors are really experienced in writing computer manuals. Other chapters work with different kinds of data, as you learn your way around what is a rather complicated software product.

I tend to learn best through a combination of conceptual and hands-on thinking (I need the 'why' and the 'how'), and this is a little too much of the latter for me, so I'll be getting something else to cover that. But as computer manuals go, this one is really complete.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great intro book, November 18, 2005

By 

Felicia (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop: The Basics of ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo Updated for ArcGIS 9 (Getting to Know series) (Paperback)

I also bought this book as a supplement to an Intro to ArcGIS course at university, and it's been a real lifesaver. The instructions are clear, concise and well-indexed. I use it as my main source now.

The current version works for Windows XP. I did have some trouble registering the extensions (after having having registered ArcView a few weeks previous), but was able to get new authorization numbers from ESRI and it worked out no problem.