The best
Geographic Information Systems books:
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The best of Geographic Information Systems books by number of unique Reddit comments:
Top Reddit reviews mentioning Geographic Information Systems books:
basic inspiration is just trying to figure out awesome things!
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As far as puzzles, here's your jam:
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the puzzlecache community (geocashing) does some REALLY cool stuff! My bible is This book.
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I also love going to escape rooms to get ideas and I'm pretty plugged into the immersive community now. It's an extremely supportive group of professionals.
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Also, if you have an iphone, there is an app called "Sidekick" That is great for decoding (and encoding) messages.
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Hope that helps!!
A great book is Cynthia Brewer's Designing Better Maps. This will give you some ideas about visual hierarchy (making some elements appear more important than others), and how to use color, texture and pattern to your advantage. IIRC there's a section on font and typeface as well. Additionally, Ms. Brewer has a great online resource called ColorBrewer2.0 that is helpful in determining color combinations and includes criteria such as colorblind-safe, use in print or multimedia.
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These are where I would start and I believe many undergrad cartography courses would start too. Good luck!
I highly recommend Cynthia Brewer’s book on cartographic design. There’s so much useful stuff to guide or inspire you. Although it’s ESRI press, it really doesn’t matter if you’re an Arc user or not.
Check out Cindy Brewer’s book Designing Better Maps for some guidance on map design itself.
Then I suggest checking out the works of John Nelson who does cool things with custom designs.
This is the textbook we're working on in my intro to computer sci class:
Cynthia Brewer's (the Brewer in colorbrewer) two books are very good too.
Designing Better Maps is more like a guidebook/textbook on how to make your maps look good. Chapters on layout, symbols, color, labelling, etc. The typography/labelling section is particularly good, especially if you haven't thought about it much before.
Designed Maps: A Sourcebook for GIS Users is a big reference book with example maps in different categories. Good to flip through and find inspiration for how to handle situations you might run into.
Both are ArcGIS based, but the lessons apply anywhere and the majority of the content is about the theory of making maps look good rather than "use X tool with Y setting"
Hey, this is the book that we used in my Python for GIS class and it and my teacher taught me a lot with it. A year after the class, I'm 80% done rereading it, and it's very helpful. works in conjunction with ArcGIS 10.1, and I suggest you use PyScripter, a sweet Python code handler.
http://www.amazon.ca/Python-Scripting-ArcGIS-Paul-Zandbergen/dp/1589482824
It covers a lot of the basics and introduces you to lots of problems you can solve with Python in GIS. It also comes with a CD complete with several exercises for each chapter in the textbook. some chapters are a bit dry, or you think, "oh my god this would be easier to do manually" but it's good at reminding you that with huge datasets, scripting is the way to go.
Do you have to be a student to apply for this??
I graduated in 2013 with a degree in Applied Math & Environmental Hydrology. I have 5 years of experience in GIS Environmental Analysis. I've interned with non-profits, the USGS, and a prestigious Washington DC Environmental Think Tank. I have authorship one peer reviewed report & and will get another in the next year or so.
My biggest weakness is my low college GPA (which is why I focused on internships and research). I also don't know python coding very well but I recently read Python Scripting for ArcGIS cover-to-cover and have been practicing as best I can.
I can't get a job anywhere, I've had to move back home and all I do is job hunt online for environmental GIS jobs. Maybe I'm just unlucky at the bottom end of the bell curve, but ~~the job market~~ hiring culture and expectations is that miserable out there.
I just keep telling myself the Winston Churchill quote "If you're going through hell... keep going."
No problem!
this was the book that I learned from when I was in school and it was very helpful. They have a new edition too I think and one that is specific for ArcPro if you're using that. You can get a license for pretty cheap for a year to keep up with it too which I did when I was in between jobs.
I've also used Code Academy for just keeping up with basics too that are not specific to GIS, but not as useful for model and tool development.
Best of luck to you! Feel free to hit me up if you ever need someone to talk to about your job hunt.
I always enjoyed this book, I received it at a conference around 2007:
There’s a new version for pro but this book really helped me from step 1 to creating tools
Python Scripting for ArcGIS (Python Scripting, 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1589483715/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_Z8BGDDM5S4KRA7SVZF9N
SQL, Python, CAD, Model Builder! If you’re not already using some of these they are great skills to have on your resume! Python Scripting for ArcGIS ProPython Scripting for ArcGIS Pro is a great book if you’re using ESRI products. And I’ve heard good things about the free online book “Automate the Boring Stuff.”
Former comp sci major turned GIS, I took a Python class and then took a GIS programming class. While it was an advantage for me to already know some keywords from the regular Python class, the GIS one and the textbook(s) meant specifically for it were easier and condensed down just for esri related processes.
TL:DR; You’re not going to learn how to do GIS related programming using a regular Python book. Please get a GIS Python related book like this one:
Python Scripting for ArcGIS (Python Scripting (3)) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1589483715/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZfNKFbPSRNT6C
There is a newer version of this text book the op might want to know about here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1589484991/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_btf_t1_j6SHFbHEE4P2E
That one is great but I think the op might even want the more advanced text book that goes with it here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1589486188/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_btf_t1_B-SHFbE0J3Q1X
I can't recommend either book enough.
I suggest checking out
It was a very useful starting point for me. It will cover all of the basics, plus how to set up your IDE.
I use Pycharm for all my development, but you can use whatever IDE you feel comfortable with.
All the ESRI sites have examples of scripting at the bottom of each tool's page. A quick Google search of a tool plus Arcpy should give you what you are looking for.
Paul Zandbergen has a series of books on python and GIS
Definitely Bolstad. QGIS is free and great software. If you’re wanting to get some experience with ArcMap, Esri’s GIS Tutorial books are great. Only $30 to buy and you get a code for an advanced license with full extensions for 6 months.
Yeah! I would purchase GIS tutoral 1! it's what we used in our graduate level class. Then when you finish that book do the GIS tutorial 2. Good stuff, and it comes with data and map files and a 6 month fully loaded ArcGIS trial.
I actually found one. It's pretty much exactly what I was curious about -- just a quick reference to terms and processes and that sort of thing. Nothing too in depth, just something to flip through, or to point people to when they want to know what I do.
A to Z GIS: An Illustrated Dictionary of Geographic Information Systems https://www.amazon.com/dp/1589481402/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_HrtCxbXFXMSFZ
I haven't read it yet, but a new edition of Designing Better Maps came out last year.
I'm nearing the end of my geography major. As someone who is just starting (and struggling big-time) to learn the programmatic side of things, you really have a leg up on the competition. The programming language of choice for GIS apps is Python, so if you still want to be doing some programming that is the language you want to focus on. A Geography grad avgs 50k/year. A geog major who knows python averages 75K!
Broadly speaking, I'd recommend picking up a book like ESRI's Getting to Know ArcGIS and working the examples there. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589483081?keywords=arcgis&qid=1450722894&ref_=sr_1_2&s=books&sr=1-2
Get to know key terms like rasters, vectors, shapefiles, and the basic operations like clip, buffer, etc. And above all realize that everything exists in space and time, so everything can be analyzed spatially!
/r/learnpython
http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/python
There is also a really good online course but I can't think of the school that offers it... All the lecture material and labwork is online, you just don't get a fancy piece of paper with it... I know it uses this book: http://www.amazon.ca/Python-Scripting-ArcGIS-Paul-Zandbergen/dp/1589482824
If that sort of a walkthrough is helpful, I'd recommend picking up Cully Long's "How to Puzzle Cache" book. He walks through puzzles in a similar way, talking generally about a type of puzzle and how to solve it... with maybe 60-80 different scenarios.
Check out the series called Puzzle Caching 101. Tons of great information if you read through them. Also there's a great book called How To Puzzle Cache.
This. I have no degree in GIS, learned on the job. As a result, my skill-set is incredibly specific to not only what we do in this particular industry, but the needs of this specific office. Without taking the time/effort to really expand my skillset with Arc, I'm not even gonna bother looking for advancement in the field (not that there are a ton of GIS jobs out there to begin with).
That said, a degree is NOT a requirement for most positions. This goes for any form of IT. Most employers only care that you know what you're talking about. An IT degree becomes outdated by the time you step off the stage, continued education is always required. Not to mention...a degree can't provide you with knowledge on every possible function in the program. You need to have the ability/willingness to tinker with it and learn things on your own.
So, sans formal training in GIS, I think if you can speak confidently about the program and what you can do in an interview, you'll be alright. A lot of newbie/novice/intermediate users could benefit from working through this book:
Work through all the exercises in that book and you'll have a solid working knowledge.
Learn the basics of python at Code Academy and than buy this http://www.amazon.com/Python-Scripting-ArcGIS-Paul-Zandbergen/dp/1589482824/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395760006&sr=8-1&keywords=Python+Scripting+for+ArcGIS and you will be up and running in no time
Pick up a copy of Python Scripting for ArcGIS or take a look at the resources on Stack Exhange
I found the combination of www.codeacademy.com and Learn Python the Hard Way really helped me to understand the fundamentals of Python.
Then this book by Paul Zandbergen Python Scripting For ArcGis opened the doors to Python scripting with ArcGIS and how the two tie together in a GIS environment.
This sounds like a bad program. It might be really worthwhile to take your money and spend it elsewhere. Honestly if you want to learn ArcMap This series of tutorial books is really useful. Also comes with a 180 day license to ArcMap!
I just ordered this book at work to hone my python skills. It's not free, but the reviews were great, and the first few pages I've read look promising.