The goal of this lab is to become proficient in different parts of the ArcGIS software system so you can do the labs and complete a project for this class. Some students who take this class have quite a bit of experience with ArcGIS software and others have none.
The first thing you’ll need to do in this class is get the latest ArcGIS software from the UNC Software Acquisition Office and load it on your computer. See http://software.sites.unc.edu/software-category/geographic-information-systems/. You’ll need to click on the Get Software button and then click on the page that says Software Ordering for students. Then follow the directions.
Each student will complete the following free ESRI Virtual Campus exercises.
· Learning ArcGIS Desktop (for ArcGIS 10)
· Exploring Spatial patterns in your data
· Processing Raster Data Using ArcGIS 10
After you complete, “Learning ArcGIS Desktop” but before you do the other two exercises, complete the Spatial Analyst tutorial that comes with the software: ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension Tutorial. It is online at:
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/pdf/spatial-analyst-tutorial.pdf
Data for the tutorial are on AFS at J:\data\gis\tutorial\arcgis10_1\Spatial Analyst. You can also get a CD with the data from the UNC Software Acquisition Office. When you ask for the software, ask them for the data CD that comes along with the software.
Instructions on how UNC students can get access to these free online exercises are at UNC Library GIS Site at http://guides.lib.unc.edu/content.php?pid=434273&sid=3553417. The ESRI Virtual Campus is at http://campus.esri.com. If you are new to ArcGIS then you should spend more time on Learning ArcGIS Desktop (for ArcGIS 10). If you have some experience with ArcGIS but no experience with raster modeling in Spatial Analyst then you should spend more time on the other exercises. If you have experience with both vector and raster modeling in ArcGIS then complete one or more of the other exercises listed below (speak with the instructor about your plan).
Instructions in how to enroll in ESRI Virtual campus courses:
1) Go to www.esri.com/mytraining and click My Virtual Campus Training.
2) If you have an ESRI global account, log in with your username and password. If you do not, click "Need an ESRI Global Account?" and create an account.
3) Enter the 14-digit course access code above in the "Start a New Web Course" box.
4) The course is added to your Courses in Progress list. Click the course title to begin.
5) When you pass the course exam, your course certificate of completion is added to the My Virtual Campus Training > Transcript page.
Lab Deliverable Summary: Since what each student will do in this lab will be different the goal is to show the instructor that you did the lab and understood what you were supposed to learn. The courses can be quite time-consuming if you do every single quiz and overview. I suggest first skimming through the entire course and then choosing those areas that you want to spend more time on. If you want to save time then don't do the quizzes and go through the overview sections. You can always come back to them. The deliverable for this lab is 2-3 page typed summary of what you learned in the exercise and a portfolio of outputs (tables, maps, statistical output) from the different sections. The portfolio should be well-organized and each output should be explained. In addition to the 2-3 page summary, you should also provide at least 6 GIS outputs but no more than 12.
UNC students have access to all of the courses listed on the following website: http://training.esri.com/gateway/index.cfm?fa=aul.premiumCourses
I want each student to get as much out of this initial GIS Background/ Refresher as possible. So if you have some special interest in other online courses that you would like to do for this first lab then propose what you'll do to me. The main goal of this stage is for you to learn as many GIS tools as possible so you can implement them in public health studies.