Getting to Know ArcGIS

I'm taking my first course in GIS at UCSB, and I decided to get this book to guide me through the learning process of using ArcGis. I just received the book in a very timely manner and I haven't fully put the knowledge to the test, but having read through the first few chapters I can already tell this is going to be a great tool for me as a student. The writing / Instruction is clear, concise, and well structured. There are fully colored and well-captioned images to facilitate the learning. The fore-edge of the book is color-coded (different shades of green) and thus allows you to access specific chapters with more ease! (I thought that was a nice touch!). The more technical sections of the book offer very useful "Tips" on how to do something and/or avoid common mistakes. A dictionary of the technical terms used in GIS and within Arc is located in the back, which is important when putting parts of the text in layman context. Overall, based on what I have seen thus far, I would say this book is probably the best bang for your buck on Amazon. I will come back after I finish the class and the exercises in this book to provide a more comprehensive review of the book and its contents. IMPORTANT: I did not receive a CD with the book. HOWEVER! the key to the 6 month trial of ArcGIS is on the inside of the back cover! Go to esripress.esri.com/bookresources, make an esri account, follow the steps, and use your key there! NOTE: Despite the book being tailored for using ArcGIS, 10.2/10.3, Esri allows you to download the 6 month trial with any version from 10.2.2 up to the most recent 10.4.1 version. Which is a big plus!

It is a really helpful book when you are starting with GIS. Exercises are good and clear (with steps) and the material that we are able to download for the exercises is excellent (including the student license for the software). Beautiful illustrated and excellent quality book. Given the complexity of the GIS software, I wish there was more explanation about some topics (deep explanations why certain tools are used or why not to use certain other tools. E.g. Page 561, Chapter 17, Spatial Join - merge rule). On the other hand, the package, when the book was sent, was really bad and the book was not protected.

I used this book to teach myself ArcGIS, and it was easy to follow and informative. I feel like I learned more in half of the book than my friends did in their GIS courses. Do the exercises. Like any educational tool, it only works if you use it.

The book is great, but the kindle version does not include the EVA access code on the inside back cover. This code allows the user an 180 day free trial for ArcGIS software. If you are expecting a free trial, buy a new paper version.

I am currently in a GIS course at my university and have no prior experience with GIS. We are using the ArcGIS software included with this book. I have enjoyed using the book because it has step-by-step instructions for the exercises and screenshots of the dialogue boxes so you never have to guess at what the correct selection is. It has you review material from previous subjects in the new exercises and teaches you the different ways to go about doing things within menus. For example, you learn the different ways to open the properties or attribute tables and it shows you the different ways you can change a symbol or a label. I feel like I am learning the program well and will be comfortable using it on my own or at work. I will update the review in December when I am finish with the course

This is really more of a workbook to be used with (included) CD. The examples use real maps and there are color illustrations. It's probably good if you are going to be manipulating existing maps and working with aerial photos. Unfortunately, what I wanted was a book that would give some insight into the way this program works, and how to use the drawing functions. I also hoped that it could be a reference book as my co-workers and I (Microstation and AutoCad users) get up to speed with an unfamiliar program. The book includes a glossary and an index, but I have not found much about the many icons. Hence the three of five stars.

I am using this for a 10-week Intro to GIS course at my university. I love it! It could not be more clear and easy to follow. I've found very few mistakes, and they have usually been misplaced images that don't affect the walkthrough. The only other area of improvement would be the index - it's not necessarily the easiest to find where you learned something in an exercise, so I recommend taking notes. The glossary is clear and thorough. I bought this rather than renting and I'm happy I did since I expect to use it for reference. If you expect to continue on to more advanced books that may cover similar ground, or if your memory is super sharp, renting may be a good option, though the six-month ArcGIS license seems like it might be worth the price of buying new. The exercises go by very quickly and it would be easy to do the whole book in a few weeks if you were committed. I am using this with ArcMap 10.5.1 and have had no issues with compatibility. However, make sure you check your system requirements if you are new to ArcGIS. This is especially true for Mac users.

This book makes GIS easy to learn. I had a couple of issues midway through (broken references between the downloadable files), but I think the book was designed to expect the reader to remember how to resolve those issues. The author covers material thoroughly enough to instill the material into the reader, yet later expects the reader to recall and perform those tasks without repeating the step-by-step process. This is a good approach to learning. I wonder if listing the page number for the original guide may help some users. By the way, I used this book on version 10.3 and 10.4. I saw no difference in usability.

El complement online es muy útil

So extremely helpful for any entry GIS based courses that rely on the Esri suite of Arc products - specifically ArcMap, ArcCatalog, etc. This product is exactly as advertised and had no issues whatsoever, it was like brand new. My first prof decided that we would be learning EVERYTHING we would need to know in order to work in the one field after this one entry class and this text was a god send. He did use it, but all of the other profs after that never mentioned it, even though everything we did in successive (upper level) classes used everything we had learned from this one. It is a great resource to have and reference!

I largely learnt ArcGIS by myself, playing with models and reading forums. As it became clear that I needed to use it more for my research I felt the need to buy a book to ensure I was using the software as possible. ---- Layout ---- At 700 pages, there is certainly a lot of detail in the book! It has a very clean presentation with a clear headings, a nice modern appearance plenty of figures. The writing is generally very easy to follow ---- Content ---- The book is aimed at people getting started with ArcGIS. It therefore starts with pretty basic details, such as setting up models and displaying data. As the book progresses, it discusses some of the geoprocessing tools which can be used. As GIS software can be used in so many different disciplines, the book does a great job in keeping it general enough to be useful regardless of your background. The tools are demonstrated with a large number of worked examples, and the supporting files which can be downloaded allow you to carry out the same process. The book touches upon some of the more advanced features of ArcGIS, such as the ModelBuilder and using Spatial Analyst. It is useful to be made aware of these features, and helps provide the reader with a basic understanding ---- Who Should Buy It? ---- I think this is a great book for any person looking to learn GIS quickly. While nothing actually beats playing around with some real data, this book gives some great knowledge which can help reduce the time it takes to learn GIS. I also think it is a great read for anyone who thinks they know GIS well but may want to fill gaps in their knowledge, as there are a lots of little hints and tricks shared in the book which can help make many processes easier. I personally discovered quite a few features which I hadn't known so it was definitely worth the read. A great read, and it is a book I would certainly recommend.

Love it.... EXCEPT how can you dare have an e-book and because of that NOT offer the 180 day free trial !!?? Ridiculous !

Thank you very much. Took some time to be delivered to me. However, i am happy with it. You are my main book store from now on.