Learning ArcGIS 10.2 Basics

This is a good reference for those who have no prior background using ArcGIS, but it will frustrate anyone who tries to use it for their own real-world first time project. ArcGIS is complex and probably no two people on the planet will have the same project and data sets in mind, so the examples provided in the book may not match your immediate need. In my case, I need to create ellipses from data records that have center points and long/short axes, and I need to be able to find and display specific ellipses at specific locations within large record sets. Obviously the author cannot anticipate these kinds of unique requirements, nor did he intend the book to go into detail on the variety of functions the application is capable of. Therefore, don't expect that reading this book will give you the ability to make ArcGIS do backflips. But it will provide enough to intrigue, and you'll probably want to take some classroom training to gain basic competence.

I was assigned a research project that revolves around ArcGIS....I have never used ArcGIS so the learning curve was tremendous. I purchased this book because of the price. I could not have asked for a better tutorial for ArcMap. The book comes with files and tutorials that have saved me an uncountable amount of time learning how to navigate and about the tools within ArcMap. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn more about ArcGIS.

This was ok for the money. The topics covered and lessons were a decent intro to the basics of ArcGIS. I ran into issues in many of the lessons where the downloaded data files did not work or were not there for some of the lessons.

This book has two major flaws:1. There are such significant copy & paste and other editorial errors that the intent of many sentences is unclear. Specifically, the Midterm assignment is almost incomprehensible. This problem worsens as the book continues.2. Some of the data required to complete the assignments is missing (i.e. empty folders/maps download from his website). Specifically, the Select assignment has a non-functional map.

Great starter read for anybody wanting to learn ArcGis. Gives the basic needs to anyone looking for a career in this field.

Ease to follow and very informative

Very good manual to learn the ArcGIS basics. Highly recommended

The content of this introductory text is well structured, but the data supplied (from web locations listed in the preface) frequently does not match the data referenced in the exhibits and instructions. An extreme example is Chapter 9, Using Attribute Data, for which the example file's tables have no attributes! You can find the right tables, but it's supposed to be preloaded in the map files.As noted by ARCGIS2014 above, the typographical errors which affect the instructions become more prevalent in the second half of the book. Some instructions appear to be holdovers from prior versions, as well, using slightly different phrasing of menu options.