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

by Tim Ormsby (Author), Eileen Napoleon (Author), Robert Burke (Author) "For a long time, people have studied the world using models such as maps and globes..." (more)
Key Phrases: sure your dialog, nonspatial table, layer attribute table, Symbol Selector, Create New Feature, Identify Results (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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 ModelBuilder technology of ArcGIS version 9 are also provided. Other topics covered include organizing data, planning a GIS project, creating derived data, and presenting results.

About the Author
Tim Ormsby, Eileen Napoleon, and Robert Burke are technical writers at ESRI Press and coauthors of Getting to Know ArcView GIS, Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop, and Extending ArcView GIS.

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 (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,576 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #4 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Graphics & Multimedia > GIS
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is intended for learning the GIS basics, June 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop (Paperback)

I may be a bit biased since I work for ESRI, but I am not a GIS person; I am a web developer. I currently am enrolled in school to acquire my GIS degree and find this book is very helpful for learning the BASICS of GIS. Of all the reviews I have seen here, it looks like everyone already knows about ArcGIS. This is not the book for you then. You need to find the more advanced publications with more in depth tutorials and examples of the software. I see a VBA developer looking for answers here; you wasted your money. Great book for GIS beginners ONLY!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works for me!, February 19, 2004

By	Chris Mclaughlin "teamsheltie" (Hawley, Ma USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop (Paperback)

I purchased this book as a compliment to the text for an intro to ArcHydro course I am taking at university and find it to be a very useful tool. The software runs on 2000 or NT, however, I called ESRI and they immediately sent me a 60 day full license for version 8.3 for XP. It's a great tool for the beginner starting out in geodatabse design and the exercises are easy to follow and gratifying when completed. If you're new to ArcView this is a good buy.

10 of 10 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)

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.