Getting to Know ArcGIS

by Michael Law, Amy K. Collins

Getting to Know ArcGIS for Desktop, fourth edition, is a comprehensive introduction to the features and tools of the ArcGIS platform. Through hands-on exercises, readers will discover, use, make, and share maps with meaningful content. The first look at ArcGIS Pro, a powerful extension, is also included. Getting to Know ArcGIS for Desktop is suited for classroom use, independent study, and as a reference. Data for completing the exercises is available for download at esripress.esri.com/bookresources. Access to a 180-day trial of ArcGIS 10.2 for Desktop is provided.

Genres: Textbooks

808 pages, Paperback

Published July 13, 2015

Reviews

[James Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice book as the step-by-step instructions for running the various functions were excellent. They were fairly easy to follow and very detailed.

What was also great was that each step was described and explained what you were actually doing, and by this, I mean that the steps were explained and also what the outcome of each step meant. This could be for example that a radius created using vector or raster data was representing owl spotted habitat in the Tongass.

So you would get an overarching narrative describing what it is you are actually doing and trying to see.

Very useful, not sure if this book is still relevant due to updated sources of GIS, and their browser application now. But useful for me at the time.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lengthy tutorial overview of the software, fully guiding you through every step of managing, projecting, analyzing and presenting geographic data using one of the current pre-eminent tools. Does a perfectly capable job of outlining the tasks it chooses, but does not go much beyond them; if you're starting your own project and using some things a little differently, prepare for a learning curve. Also, this volume is not a reference; Esri's website documentation is generally far superior in that regard, and available in a format that's not as heavy.

[Allyson G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worked for what I needed it for.