The ArcGIS Experience

It comes as little surprise that the program used by the United States Geological Survey to create map-centric maps, is a complex program. Just as Professor Shin explained, ArcGIS has a steep learning curve, and I am thankful I was not the guy who shows up at his office frustrated to tears. Although there were some parts where I was tempted to shed a few frustration tears, I was able to do without. I can liken my first experience with ArcGIS to trying to edit a photo in Photoshop with absolutely no tutorial. A program as advanced as ArcGIS is inevitable complex, but with good reason.

ArcGIS is a map-centric interface that is far more involved that my previous maps software experience with Google's "My Maps" user-centric interface. ArcGIS is, as previously stated, a map-centric software. Map-centric maps cannot be editted by the general public for the general public like Google Maps, thus increasing the the validity of ArcGIS maps. ArcGIS, too, is a more professional system of surveying land and categorizing regions. The devices that were used just in this lab show the power ArcGIS has. The system allows the user to gather pertinent information like what schools, residences and businesses are within the noise contour of an airport. It also allowed the user to understand population densities and even create a new route to and from an Airport.

ArgGIS is a professional system that is trusted in the geographic community. Besides the dificulty trying to remote access a PC through a MAC computer, the only real pitfall is the program's complexity. With the utility of the ArcTutorial, however, the program was explained to the point where a person who is not very technologically savvy, such as myself, was able to create maps and graphics of regions. Even though the program requires a decent amount of trial and error, it is still user friendly.

After this lab, I feel comfortable with ArcGIS. It only required a few journeys through the ArcTutorial for me to understand the uses of ArcGIS and how they pertained to Geography 7. Unfortunately, there were still a couple areas that my computer would simply not let me preform. The two areas that caused confusion came with the population density and the last red box that was to cover the airport area on the county map. Besides those two struggles, my experience with ArcGIS was successful and has given me a greater knowledge and appreciation of geographic systems.