GIS data and mapping related websites
ArcMap software license link: http://esripress.esri.com/display/dsp_ArcGIS10Eval.cfm
ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) http://www.esri.com/index.html
ESRI is a great source for census data and geographic boundary files.
Look in the Products/Data section
Look under data portals
Look especially under their Census-TIGER free downloads
ESRI GIS community site Geography Network, peer support, forums, data downloads, etc.
ESRI ArcUser Magazine. Sign up for a FREE subscription in PDF version--save trees!
U.S. Government
The National Atlas – “the single best Federal source for national maps and geographic information on the Web” – data includes agriculture, environment, people, biology, geology, transportation, boundaries, history, water, climate and reference maps.
You can access their Map viewer or go to Download layers.
Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) - The Geospatial Data Clearinghouse – provides access to almost any GIS data held by government agencies at all levels.
U.S. Census Bureau- A source for census data attribute files
American Fact Finder- Includes census data
Census Cartographic Boundaries- Official Census site boundaries including shapefiles and ArcInfo export files
US Census Tiger Data metadata- Metadata for census boundaries, including those from esri
Tiger/Line 2007 shapefiles- Census and other boundary files
USGS EROS- Aerial photographs, maps, DEMs, and satellite images
Open Topography portal to high-resolution topography data and tools:
http://www.opentopography.org/
USDA Geospatial Data Gateway as part of the US Dept. of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Conservation Service: http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/
Utah
Utah.gov gis data portal link to Utah GIS data there and at
http://gis.utah.gov/sgid-vector-download/utah-sgid-vector-gis-data-layers-by-category
Utah Geological Survey (Geological data)
Utah State Univ. extension GIS data sources
Utah division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands: http://www.ffsl.utah.gov/ffsl.htm
California
California Spatial Information Library (CaSil): Collection of GIS datasets for California
California Shape File (for clipping or background)
LA County GIS Network (For data in LA County)
San Diego
San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG): Collection of ESRI shapefiles for San Diego County, California
SANGIS: GIS datasets for the City and County of San Diego
San Francisco
San Francisco Data : A clearinghouse of datasets available from the City & County of San Francisco
Other Universities
CIESIN- Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (Columbia University)
CSUN- The Internet Library of the Department of Geography ( California State University Northridge)
Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies - Guide to mostly on-line and mostly free U.S. geospatial and attribute data (University of Arkansas)
Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis - Rutgers University
IGS Statewide Database- Data sourse for California-- Redistricting, Tax accessor, and 1990/2000 census data (University of California Berkeley)Geographer's Craft, Colorado U. – all sorts of resources, tutorials, datasets, etc
Other Free Sites: Software, Data and More
RAND California Statistics – Comprehensive database of California statistics. Includes political, demographic, education, crime, environmental and other statistics at several geographic levels. May need to access via Bruin Online Proxy Server
Geo Community- Good resource for peer support, downloadable data and more
GeoBase – Great source for Canadian GIS data
MACON – great free map layers and data for Europe , Latin American and more
Policy Map - A wealth of data and sample report (a free trial period is available)
Data Place - A good place to find data and maps (part of knowledgeplex a resource for "housing and community development professionals")
Interesting Examples of Online Mapping
NYC Graffitti- Mapping of grafitti sites in New York
LA Times (Mapping LA) - Mapping of grafitti sites in New York
NYC 311 Calls- Mapping of 311 calls in New York
UCLA Interactive Map - Interactive map of UCLA campus
City of Boston Enterprise GIS - Mapping of Boston
City of San Francisco Enterprise GIS- Mapping of San Francisco
Bike Map - Mapping bike routes
Walk Score- Mapping the walkability of a neighborhood
Bike Score - Same as design as Walk Score
Online Mapping Tools
Land Based Classification Standards - Land Use Classification Standard Colors perscribed by the
American Planning Association (Direct Link to pdf and excel--two different documents)
US Census Bureau Longitudinal Employment Dynamics Online Mapping Tool: Provides detailed maps showing where workers are employed and where they live with companion reports on age, earnings, industry distribution, and local workforce indicators.
http://lehdmap3.did.census.gov/themap3/
GIS Tools
Easy Calculate: Set of expressions for ArcGIS calculator that can be loaded in the field calculator to calculate some spatial characteristics of features, edit shapes, add records, and draw graphics
http://www.ian-ko.com/free/free_arcgis.htm
General Reference
About coordinate systems and map projections:
Some step-by-step tutorials: