Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Services: Getting Started With GIS at UNC

Software

UNC has a site license for ESRI Software maintained by Software Acquisitions.

Software is available in campus labs, including: ITS labs, Odum Institute Labs, the six public GIS machines in the GIS Services area of Davis Library Research and Instructional Services, and in other labs on campus.

It is also available via UNC virtual labs, including the ITS Virtual Lab, and the VCL.

If you want to install the software on your machine: See the System Requirements of ESRI Software.
A copy of the software can be obtained from Software Acquisitions.
Request and Install (1) ArcGIS Desktop (2) ArcInfo Workstation. Request an ArcInfo Authorization File (see How to request an ArcGIS 10 Authorization File). Important: During installation, install at the ArcInfo Licensing level, and do a complete installation with all of the extensions. After installing you will need to install the latest service pack from the ESRI support website.

Mac Users: Note that Esri does not officially support ArcGIS software installed on a Mac, but there are some best practices for installing ArcGIS desktop on a Mac.

Locate Spatial Data

GIS Data Finder
Spatial Data Online
Amanda Henley's Data Bookmarks on delicious.com

Training and Support

Sign up for the UNCGIS listserv to find out about upcoming training and events, employment opportunities, and spatial data resources.

Learning ArcGIS - ESRI's Virtual Campus Online Courses (Free to current UNC Affiliates)

ESRI's Support Website is a great resource for documentation, data, and training.

If you have ArcGIS installed on your own computer, there are several free tutorials (instructions and data) located in C:\arcgis\ArcTutor. If you can't find the data for the tutorials on your computer, you can download them from AFS. Connect to afs\isis.unc.edu\data\gis\tutorials\arcgis9_3. Each folder contains data for a specific tutorial and the Tutorial_Docs folder contains the PDF instructions for each tutorial. Movies and tutorial documentation are available at ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 Help - Tutorials.

Extend the interface of ESRI Software with tools written by other GIS users. Download free scripts and extensions from ArcScripts. Learn how to do this with the Virtual Campus Course, "Customizing ArcMap: Easy Ways to Extend the Interface" one of the courses available free to UNC affiliates (above).

GIS Dictionary
ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 Help

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