Geospatial Data & GIS

This guide includes how to getting data from Census and other sources for use of GIS.

• Download Data from American Factfinder and Display it in ArcMap: A pdf tutorial (Tufts)
• Work with Census Data and ArcMap: A video tutorial guiding from acquiring Census data to making maps in ArcGIS (George Mason). 
• Download Image (Raster) data from the USGS National Map Viewer: A collection of video tutorials with specific titles (George Mason).
• Download Image from an online database - Landsat (tutorial).
• Collect Geotagged Twitter Data using Python and Twitter APIs : Ways to select geo-tagged twitter data based on a chosen bounding box (George Mason).
• Download OpenStreet Map Data: Import and export XML files to work with GIS (George Mason).

• Import Excel Data to GIS.: Best practices when using Excel files with ArcGIS (ESRI) and building a geodatabase file.
• Display XY data in spreadsheet in ArcGIS software (via Mason).
• Create a file geodatabase and setting default geodatabases from spreadsheet data in ArcGIS (Duke Univ.)

Geocoding: a process to convert addresses into coordinates (latitude (X) and longitude (Y))

• Census Geocoder (via the Bureau of Census): Geocode up to 10,000 addresses at a time. Find also county, census tracts and blocks for an address or geographic coordinators (XY). See the tutorial. Note: The link on page 1 has expired, a new link to the Census Bureau’s reference page can be found here.
• Geocoding in ArcGIS Online: Convert a batch-wise street address data  into point data (need an institutional account from George Mason University to access this tool). See the tutorial (via Mason) .
• See also this tutorial (via Mason) when creating a locator service with ArcGIS Desktop software (no need to use an institutional account for geocoding addresses) Note: Two links have expired in this document. To find FIPS codes click this link and to find the Tufts tutorial, click this link.
• See also via LinkedIn Learning Geocoding an address or coordinates (Need Mason NetID to access).

Georeferencing: a process to convert print or scanned image maps to georeferenced maps to use in GIS analysis. 

• Using ArcMap (in ArcGIS): Use any tutorials provided by UC-Berkely, Mason, Brown, Video tutorial (Texas AM).
• Using QGIS: Use any tutorials provided by QGIS 2.18, the Programming Historians, National Library of Scotland.

Map Projections: Representing a 3-dimensional earth data into a 2-dimensional data based on various models. 

• Change one projection to another in ArcMap (video tutorial).
•  How to Re-Project Another System in Arcmap (ResourceSupply).
• See also this tutorial on "How to Alter Your Map Projection" (George Mason Univ.)

Other Tutorials in GIS (via LinkedIn Learning): A list of essential GIS tutorials (video). More info about LinkedIn Learning can be found here.