Suggested Reading - Thinking About GIS

Some Suggested reading... Thinking About GIS: Geographic Information System Planning for Managers presents a planning model for designing data and technology systems that will meet any organization’s specific needs. Designed for two primary audiences—senior managers who oversee information technologies and technical specialists responsible for system design—this book provides a common platform on which to conduct GIS planning. The fourth edition reflects the latest trends in geospatial technology, and includes new case studies, exercises from author Roger Tomlinson's course Planning for a GIS, and video of his "Planning and Managing a GIS" seminar from the Esri International User Conference.

The Lazy Library - nothing longer than 200 pages!

Now here's an interesting search tool. the lazy library caters to those looking for books on any topic (try a search) and provides results of books that match the criteria but are 200 pages max... interesting idea man, where was lazy library when I was in College? http://lazylibrary.com

Win a copy of Getting to know ArcGIS Desktop

A little Spring cleaning as I'm tidying up the bookshelf today and realize I have 2 copies of Getting to Know ArcGIS desktop (second edition for ARcGIS 9) - so, I'm giving a copy away to one person who registers for the 2X a week GISuser Today newsletter.

This is a simple, fun contest - simply register to receive GISuser Today and that's all - I'l announce the winner on Monday, January 14, 2008.. Good Luck

Not interested in ArcGIS? No problem, if you don't want the ArcGIS desktop book then I also have a copy of Research and Thery in Advancing Spatial Data Infrastructure Concepts if you'd rather have that one!

Already registered for the newsletter? Hey that's cool.. sign up for the GISuser Facebook Group and you'll also be entered to win!

A complete GIS tutorial For Marketing - ESRI Press

The GIS tutorial for Marketing might be better named The GIS Bible for Marketing... those interested in the application of GIS and geospatial technologies and analysis for business purposes will have no need to look any further than this resource from ESRI Press. Weighing in at 400+ pages (about 12 pounds!) it's definitely a complete how-to for those interested in performing geographic analysis like site selection, direct mail marketing, and planning and implementing marketing, sales, and promotional strategies. The book falls under the category of exercise books, walking users step by step through real life business geographic scenarios, complete with ArcGIS and ArcGIS Explorer instructions, pointers to data, and more. Most data used come from the Community Tapestry lifestyle data that comes bundled with ESRI's business analyst products. Companion CDs with the book provide all the exercises, templates, and data. A second CD contains a fully functional ArcGIS 9 (arcView 9.2) 30 day eval. I could easily go on and on about this one so if Geospatial marketing and applications of GIS for business planning is on your list of things to do then check it out at Amazon or ESRI Press.

GIS Tutorial for Marketing (GIS Tutorial) by Fred L Miller (Spiral-bound - Jun 1, 2007) - Illustrated - Buy new: $79.95 $50.37


Amazon.com / See ESRI Press

A new year is a Good Time to Start Thinking About GIS

Here's a good tip to help the GIS manager get organized in 2008 - I just received the 3rd Edition of Thinking About GIS by Roger Tomlinson. Just in time for 08, this next edition in the popular title appears at first glance to be one of the must have in the corner office bookshelf (i.e. it's an ideal GIS manager companion hence the title, GIS planning for managers). Anyone who's had trouble in the past fumbling for information to help design a system from the ground up will appreciate this book. At just over 200 pages, it's lightweight but heavy on useful material. The 12 chapters will systematically lead you through strategies for planning, describing and identifying your system needs, defining the system scope, creating a data design, outlining a logical data model, system requirements, cost vs benefit and finally, planning your system implementation... who couldn't use help with this?

Appendixes touch on popular topics that frequently give the manager reason to scratch her head like how to conduct benchmark testing, creating and planning your RFP and writing a design document. If you think you'll be charged with planning and implementing a plan for a GIS this is a great place to start.

Some items I enjoyed were Tomlinson's who, what, where, when, and why of GIS advice, his 10 stages of GIS planning, and all of chapter 8 on creating the data design. A bargin at less than $15! See Amazon.com or ESRI Press

Understanding Place

Just received a new title from ESRI Press titled "Understanding Place" (by D.S Sinton & J.J Lund)- the book is focused on GIS and mapping in the curriculum. So far it looks simply amazing and I can't put it down... perhaps because I'm very intruigued by GIS in the K-12 envirnment and hearing about various learning practices that incorporate GIS. Simply put, the book touches on successes and challenges faced with bringing GIS into the classroom. Interesting to read about case studies in poli sci, economics, anthropology and other disciplines. See http://gis.esri.com/esripress/

More out of the O'reilly camp on the GIS 2.0 front... GIS for Web Developers - New from Pragmatic Bookshelf

A new book from O'reilly just announced today boasts you'll learn how to find the vast amounts of free geographic data that's out there and how to bring it all together. You'll see how to convert it among several popular formats—including plain text, ESRI Shapefiles, and Geography Markup Language (GML). I can't wait to see how yet another expert proposes to the industry how to find these free data - PS - if you point me to another antiquated datadepot I'm gonna puke!

In GIS for Web Developers, author Scott Davis introduces Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in simple terms and demonstrates hands-on uses. With this book, you'll explore popular websites like maps.google.com, see the technologies they use, and learn how to create your own. Written with the usual Pragmatic Bookshelf humor and real-world experience, GIS for Web Developers make the journey an easy one. You can now geographically-enable your own applications using freely available, open source tools and data. But until now, finding the right data on the web has been a problem. For more information about the book, see: http://www.oreilly/catalog/974514098

A good read - GIS for the urban environment, ESRI Press

I haven't had time yet to do a full-blown review, however, I have skimmed briefly a new title from ESRI Press and its pretty darned awesome! Anyone involved in urban geography, local government and GIS should grab a copy of this, read it, and keep it near your desk! The book starts of with the basics of GIS (even answers what is a map?) and then delves into spatial modeling, data classifcation, data visualization, data sources, and anything that a local government GIS user needs to know. Of particualr interes and setting this book apart from anything else I've seen is the focus on GIS Projects, including the project lifecycle, planning, and project management... nice! The book finishes up with a lengthy discussion on GIS ethics and offers up some excellent case studies. See GIS for the Urban Environment