GIS for Everyone, 3/e

Description:

Now everyone can create smart maps for school, work, home, or community action using a personal computer

Although we don't think about it much, there's a geographic component to just about everything human beings do-that is, almost every activity, thing, trend, issue, or phenomenon takes place at a particular location on the earth. This truth is at the core of a powerful digital technology-geographic information systems, or GIS.

Using a GIS, virtually any kind of data can be placed on a digital map, then visualized, compared, measured, and analyzed. Many governments and large organizations use GIS because of the astonishing diversity of information types that can be mapped and analyzed-these range from population demographics, to health statistics and epidemiology, utility and transportation networks, flood protection zones, animal migration routes, crime patterns, historical battlefields, sales and marketing trends, disaster destruction areas, and much more.

GIS for Everyone, Third Edition provides an easy introduction to this powerful technology. Everything you need to get started with GIS you'll find in this new edition, including the latest free GIS software from ESRI, 500 MB of digital geographic data, and free access to valuable data for any U.S. ZIP Code.

Using clear language and carefully organized lessons, this self-study workbook will have anyone-student, small business owner, or community leader-creating GIS projects within minutes. Using data from the CD and from the Geography NetworkSM, readers will be able to create digital maps and simple geographic analyses for use in school or work projects, or on Web sites-bringing the power of GIS to any location on earth.