Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop

Rating:
Summary: Unhelpful if starting with scratch data
Review: This book runs you through excercises to familiarize you with the layout and tools the program offers. It utilizes pre-made coverages and data sets that, although useful to play with, allow the author to avoid teaching you how to generate new or initial coverages. I would think once we're done converting 3.x to 8.x we want to generate original coverages, and this book really doesn't help you figure out how to do that. So although it's a reasonable resouce, it's not the end all be all guide - and I don't know what it.

Rating:
Summary: Great tutorial!
Review: This textbook is a great, easy to understand and to follow tutorial. It is packed with step-by-step instructions and color pictures of the computer screen. The steps on the computer screen are even marked with arrows. I am taking my first GIS course and this book has been an excellent textbook and reference book. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Misleading Title
Review: This was a waste of $50.00. I was unable to register the ArcGIS Demo Edition software and there is no support available on-line or on the ESRI website for this problem. When I called ESRI for assistance their response was for me to go to the website. The book is useless because the software is useless. So beware!

Rating:
Summary: no support for demo software.
Review: This was a waste of $50.00. I was unable to register the ArcGIS Demo Edition software and there is no support available on-line or on the ESRI website for this problem. When I called ESRI for assistance their response was for me to go to the website. The book is useless because the software is useless. So beware!