ESRI

Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) developed the ArcGIS software.

ESRI is a great source for census data and geographic boundary files.

Look in the Products/Data section

Look under data portals

Look especially under their Census-TIGER free downloads

ESRI GIS community site Geography Network, peer support, forums, data downloads, etc.

ESRI ArcUser Magazine. Sign up for a FREE subscription! (in PDF version--save some trees)

UCLA

UCLA Mapshare – A good source for geographic boundary files. You must be on a UCLA computer or connected to the UCLA Library via UCLA VPN.

Simply Map - (You have to use firefox)- Requires a UCLA VPN. You need to sign up for a log-on (but its free!)

U.S. Government

The National Atlas – “the single best Federal source for national maps and geographic information on the Web” – data includes agriculture, environment, people, biology, geology, transportation, boundaries, history, water, climate and reference maps. You can access their Map viewer or go directly to Download layers.

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) - The Geospatial Data Clearinghouse – provides access to almost any GIS data held by government agencies at all levels.

U.S. Census Bureau- A source for census data attribute files

American Fact Finder- Includes census data

Census Cartographic Boundaries- Official Census site boundaries including shapefiles and ArcInfo export files

US Census Tiger Data metadata- Metadata for census boundaries, including those from esri

Tiger/Line 2007 shapefiles- Census and other boundary files

USGS EROS- Aerial photographs, maps, DEMs, and satellite images

California

California Spatial Information Library (CaSil): Collection of GIS datasets for California

California Shape File (for clipping or background)

LA County GIS Network (For data in LA County)

San Diego

San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG): Collection of ESRI shapefiles for San Diego County, California

SANGIS: GIS datasets for the City and County of San Diego

San Francisco

San Francisco Data : A clearinghouse of datasets available from the City & County of San Francisco

Other Universities

CIESIN- Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (Columbia University)

CSUN- The Internet Library of the Department of Geography ( California State University Northridge)

Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies - Guide to mostly on-line and mostly free U.S. geospatial and attribute data (University of Arkansas)

Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis - Rutgers University

IGS Statewide Database- Data sourse for California-- Redistricting, Tax accessor, and 1990/2000 census data (University of California Berkeley)Geographer's Craft, Colorado U. – all sorts of resources, tutorials, datasets, etc

Other Free Sites: Software, Data and More

RAND California Statistics – Comprehensive database of California statistics. Includes political, demographic, education, crime, environmental and other statistics at several geographic levels. May need to access via Bruin Online Proxy Server

Geo Community- Good resource for peer support, downloadable data and more

Map Cruzin

GeoBase – Great source for Canadian GIS data

MACON – great free map layers and data for Europe , Latin American and more

Policy Map - A wealth of data and sample report (a free trial period is available)

CA Lots -A good resource for parcel level investigations in Los Angeles

Data Place - A good place to find data and maps (part of knowledgeplex a resource for "housing and community development professionals")

Interesting Examples of Online Mapping

NYC Graffitti- Mapping of grafitti sites in New York

LA Times (Mapping LA) - Mapping of grafitti sites in New York

NYC 311 Calls- Mapping of 311 calls in New York

UCLA Interactive Map - Interactive map of UCLA campus

City of Boston Enterprise GIS - Mapping of Boston

City of San Francisco Enterprise GIS- Mapping of San Francisco

Bike Map - Mapping bike routes

Walk Score- Mapping the walkability of a neighborhood

Bike Score - (Just being developed) Same as design as Walk Score

Online Mapping Tools

Land Based Classification Standards - Land Use Classification Standard Colors perscribed by the

American Planning Association (Direct Link to pdf and excel--two different documents)

Online Mapping Tools

US Census Bureau Longitudinal Employment Dynamics Online Mapping Tool: Provides detailed maps showing where workers are employed and where they live with companion reports on age, earnings, industry distribution, and local workforce indicators.

http://lehdmap3.did.census.gov/themap3/

GIS Tools

Easy Calculate: Set of expressions for ArcGIS calculator that can be loaded in the field calculator to calculate some spatial characteristics of features, edit shapes, add records, and draw graphics

http://www.ian-ko.com/free/free_arcgis.htm

General Reference

Field calculator tips

About coordinate systems and map projections:

http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/9.2/index.cfm?tocVisable=0&ID=192&TopicName=About%20coordinate%20systems%20and%20map%20projections&pid=186

Helpful Books

Here is a document with links to books that are available in the UCLA libraries that might help.

home | description | syllabus | students | hints | links

September 2008