GIS Geographic Information Systems & GeoDemographics Online Course Section 1 | TIGER

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Using GIS Tools & GeoDemographics
.. Module 1 About GIS; GIS Tools and Data Setup/Installation

Contents
• Module 1 (this module) -- About GIS; GIS Tools and Data Setup/Installation
• Module 2 -- Geography, Geometry & Shapefiles
• Module 3 -- Subject Matter: Statistical/Administrative Data
• Module 4 -- Integrating Subject Matter with Shapefiles
Interpreting & Presenting Data

Module 1 -- About GIS & GIS Tools and Data Setup/Installation

Learning Objectives
• Ability to start, operate and understand GIS tools/software with GIS project
• Ability to modify and save GIS Project
• Ability to create reference and thematic pattern maps

New Federal Statistical Data This Week
• Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
- U,S. by County by type of business for 2024Q1; release date 9/4/24 see in calendar
- Covered in Module 3 .. learning about:
.. why these data are important
.. how to access & use these data

Overview & Getting Started
Selected GIS Stories using iVDA (below)
• Examining demographic characteristics of a location -- below.
• How & Why County Population is Changing -- below.

Using iVDA
.. iVDA part of Visual Data Analytics .. see more about VDAGIS below
.. iVDA works on any device; iPhone (not recommended due to screen size)
.. start-up view presented below is an interactive mapping window .. watch video
.. iVDA is an iframe version of VDA Web GIS4 ..open related VDA Web GIS4 .. see about using VDA Web GIS4 below
.. the page being viewed now is located at https://proximityone.com/gis/1/gis11.htm
Find a location .. see it on a map .. examine its demographics
Click toggle button/line to view instructions.

Find a location based on an address/location (zooms to block group)

.. enter ZIP ccde 22306 (or an address) in the searcbar or exact address:
607 Oronoco St, Alexandria, VA 22314
.. the map view zooms-in to the block group (cross-hatched) containing the location shown as a blue triangle.
.. view the demographic profile for this block group displayed in the lower left.
.. here you can examine many demographic subject matter items for that or any block group/address.
.. optionally click on other layers in the Legend Panel.
.. Try a different address or location .. the view will zoom to that block group.

Examine Citizen Voting Age Population by Neighborhood/Block Group

.. in the Legend Panel, left of map, click "BlkGroups %CVAP A22" ckeckbox on (scroll down).
.. click on a block group in map to view its attributes in lower left panel.
.. hide this layer by unchecking the layer checkbox.

The start-up shows the Alexandria, VA Old Town area. This tool works for any location in the U.S.

Optionally view data in spreadsheet.
Select a block group (cross hatched area in map). Click clipboard button.
Open XLS Template
In spreadsheet, Ctrl-V (paste) in cell H1 of the XLS template to view data in organized structure.
Columns C & D show data for the selected block group.

More orientation .. using this project with the Congressional Communities layer "Cong Comm ACS22 $MHI"
.. this layer corresponds to the shapefile "cc20_us_012723_2022acsitemset1.shp"
.. make "Cong Comm ACS22 $MHI" the active layer
.. then click on a CC of interest in the map .. the profile is shown in the lower left panel
.. click "clipboard" button
.. open Excel and CRTL-V paste into cell A1. Adjust column widths
., see illustrative profile for CC 5108001 (xls file).

Topics

1.1.	Introduction to Geographic Information Systems Getting Started with iVDA & VDAGIS Base Project/Datasets .. hands-on introduction to iVDA (embedded above) .. how iVDA differs from VDA Desktop GIS ..
1.1.1.	Concepts, Terms .. terms used in iVDA applications .. GIS Project -- this iVDA deployment uses the VDAGIS "Base" project - see other iVDA deployments in VDAGIS Discovery .. layers in the GIS project .. a layer represents a shapefile or SQLite file with specific fields or attributes. - active layer -- click layer name to make Active Layer (turns blue) - data fields in a layer/shapefile - types of layers: point, line, polygon .. geocode, GEOID, unique geographic identifier .. data sourcing in a layer; e.g., ACS 2022 5-year estimates .. user interface components - menubar > operations - map window - legend panel - searchbar - profile panel (lower left) > clipboard button - control buttons below map window > shift+mousedown .. drag to make custom zoom window > magnify A .. open data table for active layer .. zoom navigation options .. dragging map view .. using the data table - a row for each geographic area in the Active Layer - using the SQL edit box -- to set a filter based on a layer attribute - click Query button to using the SQL edit box - showing row geography in map
1.1.1.1.	About GIS
1.1.1.2.	VDA Desktop GIS User Guide
1.2.	An Application: How & Why County Demographics are Changing
1.3.	Setting GIS Application Objectives: Mapping & GeoSpatial Analysis
1.4.	Using VDA Desktop GIS & Overview
1.4.1.	Running VDA Desktop GIS (VDAD) via Remote Desktop Service
1.4.2.	Navigating the VDAD Software
1.4.2.1.	Opening & Closing a GIS Project
..	... more .. details in course material
1.5.	Reviewing the Start-Up GIS Project
..	... available GIS projects:
1.5.1.	GIS Project Structure
1.5.1.1.	Saving and Naming GIS Projects
1.5.1.2.	Using the Layer Editor
1.5.2.	Shapefiles: Point, Line, Area; Structure
1.5.3.	Data Files (other than shapefiles): Structure and Content
1.5.3.1.	Excel, dBase, delimited, other
1.6.	Making a Custom Map

Assignment .. goto top
Use iVDA in this section to create an Excel file containing a profile for the block group containing the ZIP Code centroid for ZIP code 85258. E-mail your profile (an Excel file) to Warren Glimpse.

About VDAGIS .. goto top
Visual Data Analytics (VDA) Geographic Information Resources (GIS) resources are developed and maintained by Warren Glimpse, ProximityOne (Alexandria, VA) and Takashi Hamilton, Tsukasa Consulting (Osaka, Japan). See more about VDA resources

About VDA Web GIS4 .. goto top
VDA Web GIS4 is an update to VDA Web GIS which remains in operation. iVDA is an iframe version of VDA Web GIS4 (VDAW4). Not all features of VDAW4 are available in iVDA. Notably VDAW4 features the ability to import a user shapefile into the active project; reviewed in this course.

iVDA operates using the VDAGIS project assigned in the iframe call. For Module 1 this is the Base Project. Using VDAW4, many different projects can be opened. Start VDAW4 and see there are many VDAGIS project available. By clicking on the "Base" project, VDAW4 opens the Base project .. which is the same project used the Module 1 iVDA.