New Intermediate Workbook Helps Readers Build GIS Analysis Skills

Redlands, California— June 08, 2009 —With the release of GIS Tutorial II: Spatial Analysis Workbook, ESRI Press has expanded its instructional workbook offerings to benefit geographic information system (GIS) users at the intermediate level.

Building on the basic skills taught in GIS Tutorial: Workbook for ArcView 9, GIS Tutorial II teaches readers how to perform spatial analysis using the tools in ArcGIS Desktop. Detailed, step-by-step procedures are included to guide them in a number of spatial analysis methods including comparison, overlay, density, proximity, statistical, temporal, distribution, pattern, cluster, autocorrelation, and hot spot.

Observes David W. Allen, author of GIS Tutorial II, "Spatial analysis is what distinguishes GIS from other forms of digital map representations. It's the problem-solving aspect of GIS, whether it's done in the viewer's brain or worked to a full conclusion on the map. The tools seem very basic—buffers, overlays, selections—but when combined in the correct sequence and symbolized sufficiently, they can reveal things about the data that can't be seen in a spreadsheet or chart."

Allen is the GIS manager for the City of Euless, Texas, where he designs data structures and custom applications from scratch. He has used his knowledge of GIS as an instructor at Tarrant County College for the past eight years, during which time he assisted in the development of a GIS degree program and worked to establish a state standard for GIS degree programs in Texas.

The exercises in GIS Tutorial II also provide practical application to the concepts presented in The ESRI Guide to GIS Analysis, volumes 1 and 2, which are previous ESRI Press publications written by Andy Mitchell. Says Mitchell, a senior technical writer at ESRI, "David Allen has produced an excellent volume to complement the ESRI Guide to GIS Analysis series—one that has long been needed. David's experience as a GIS practitioner, as well as an instructor, has led him to include exercise scenarios based on spatial analysis tasks that GIS analysts working in government and industry perform every day. The data used in the workbook is derived from real-world GIS datasets—with all their complexity—adding yet another level of realism to the exercises. GIS Tutorial II will be invaluable for anyone wanting to expand their knowledge of the extensive spatial analysis capabilities of ArcGIS."

Exercise data and a 180-day trial of ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 software accompany the book on two separate DVDs. GIS Tutorial II: Spatial Analysis Workbook (ISBN: 9781589482012, 424 pages, $79.95) is available from online retailers, at www.esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, visit www.esri.com/esripressorders for complete ordering options or contact your local ESRI distributor. For a current distributor list, visit www.esri.com/distributors. Interested retailers can contact ESRI Press book distributor Ingram Publisher Services.

About ESRI Press

ESRI Press publishes books on GIS, cartography, and the application of spatial analysis to many areas of public and private endeavor including land-use planning, health care, education, business, government, and science. The complete selection of GIS titles from ESRI Press can be found on the Web at www.esri.com/esripress.

About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.



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