Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Convert the spreadsheet data so it becomes an ArcGIS table.
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Download data from Esri (optional for the exercise).
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Combine Census data and Esri Data. (using data provided on the DVD)
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Display the data.
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Analyze the data.
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A warning: The downloading data part of this exercise requires a lot of pointing, clicking, and waiting.
Its annoyance component is high and there are lots of places to go off the rails. As such, it is
emblematic of many of the activities you will undertake when doing real GIS projects. However, as
previously indicated, sample data is provided so you can skip the more annoying parts if you run into
trouble with them.
1.
In ArcCatalog make a new folder named Day_Care_Data in
___IGIS-Arc_
YourInitials
by right-clicking that entry and picking New > Folder. Make a folder connection to
Day_Care_Data.
Obtaining Data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census
2.
On the Internet, browse to
www.census.gov.
What time is it? ________ What is the U.S.
population? _______________. Determine what the world's population is. ________________.
Previous editions of this textbook provided instructions for finding the data for Knox County,
Tennessee, only to (1) have students find that the website had changed and it wasn't obvious
how to find the data, and/or (2) discover that their institutions had firewalls erected so that
the extensive data files couldn't get through. So, I have abandoned the idea of trying to tell you
how to get the files; rather I will provide them to you. If you plan to do a lot of work with census
data, you might want to determine how to get these files on your own. Otherwise, just take a
pass, skip to Step 4, and use the data I have provided.
3.
You ultimately want to find and obtain the following files on
www.census.gov:
dt_dec_2000_sf1_u_data1.xls
dt_dec_2000_sf1_u_geo.xls
dt_readme.txt
readme_dec_2000_sf1.tx
The one you must have is:
dt_dec_2000_sf1_u_data1.xls
Good luck to you in finding and downloading it. Look around the census site. You may be able
to get to it with American Fact Finder.
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