Book Information

Book ID Asin: 1589484568
Book Title: GIS Tutorial 1: Basic Workbook, 10.3 Edition (GIS Tutorials)
Book Author: Wilpen L. Gorr,Kristen S. Kurland
Book Format: unknown Book Price: unknown
Book Category: Books, Engineering & Transportation, Engineering and unknown
Book Rating: 246 ratings

Book Product Detail

• Best Sellers Rank: #477,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Remote Sensing & GIS
  • #63 in Geographic Information Systems
  • #45,954 in Textbooks

• Customer Reviews:
  4.4 out of 5 stars 246 ratings

Book Review

Name: Lotsa Books
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great introduction to ArcGIS 10.3 software, but... (and beware the Amazon bought version...)
Date: Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2020
Review: This textbook leaves a lot to be desired as far as deep learning of the software.

Since this is an introductory text, mainly for getting used to the program's abilities and layout, I guess some things can be forgiven. I'm not sure if there's an expectation that the teacher will supplement some gaps in explanation (or even missing steps or misworded instructions) but the frustration factor is a little higher than, say, those direction-laden guides for students of Word/Excel/Access (you know the ones: 100+ pages of explanations and step-by-step instructions with assignments at the end that test your comprehension skills). This is similar to that format but not quite as dense since it doesn't always tell you WHY you're clicking this or that option.

I'm going through the book prior to the actual class and am learning a lot on my own, but those strange lapses in clear directions or illustrations that don't match your work (even though you followed each step TO THE LETTER!!) can make your heckles and/or blood pressure rise just a tad.

Word of warning to those wanting to save money: I bought my copy from Amazon (obviously) and I had the same problem as another reviewer: the cover is cheaply pasted to the bound pages and will inevitably come undone. I took a look at the school's copies in their bookstore and not only does it seem of better glue quality but their copies had covers that were shiny and glossy. The copy I got has that vaguely plastic/rubbery feel to the covers with smudges easy to see in the right light. It's a slight annoyance that I'll say is worth the $30 savings--I'll just go out and buy a bottle of acid-free glue and do some quick book mending. But for those of you who might find this unforgivable, caveat emptor.

Also: at this point in time, the Kindle version is much cheaper than the print book and looks to be formatted pretty well with clear (enough) illustrations. On a decent sized tablet or screen it should be fine to follow along with. I paid the extra bucks for the print copy so I could get the code (only available with the print version) for home/trial access to the software for 180 days. Well worth it to me.

Name: Lynne Shapiro
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Not carefully thought out all over the place exercises
Date: Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2017
Review: The exercises are not well thought out with any care in terms of step by step instructions and goes all over the place.. The prof has this as the second book in a series of courses to review skills we learned in Law, et al's great book and learn new skills. But it is demoralizingly sloppy. I want to say "Mister I have done learned this before but what the heck am I doing here now, you are confusing me." It goes all over the place, too, from projected coordinates to importing CAD files. Oy vey.

Name: Crystal C Thomas
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Must-Have for GIS Beginners
Date: Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2018
Review: Great book! This is all you need to teach yourself and add skills to your resume as a GIS specialist. I taught ArcGIS to myself years ago before actually taking a college course on it, so I thought I already knew this stuff. I learned that I did NOT know everything, despite using it successfully for about 10 years. I learned about capabilities that were present the whole time, but I didn't know where they were or how to get to them. I learned shortcuts and professional tips. I would recommend this book for anyone who always wanted to learn ArcGIS, but could not get started.

Name: Jen D.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: and I can't say that I like it very much
Date: Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2016
Review: I've been using this book in my Intro to GIS class, and I can't say that I like it very much. The exercises throughout the chapter are pretty straightforward, but the end of chapter assignments can be extremely frustrating at times. The author skips crucial little steps in just assuming that the reader knows what to do and it can throw off the entire assignment. The only reason I can really fully complete some of the exercises is because out teacher will help us when we get really stuck. My entire class seems to be pulling our hair out over certain assignments. I think this is helpful to get your feet wet with GIS, and even for intermediate users, but complete beginners should seek help to go along with this book.

Name: Joe
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title: No authorization code in Kindle/Expired code in used books.
Date: Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2017
Review: This kindle book does NOT include the authorization code. I didn't find this out until a day before class. Luckily the company that built the program has an "alternative" personal use code for $100.00. If you are buying this for a class... DON'T. Buy the hard copy Brand New, or you will regret it.

Name: Shibby
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great! But could use an update!
Date: Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2020
Review: For the most part this is absolutely the best technology textbook I’ve seen. It does maybe need an update as Arcmap has seen several updates and some of the sections have some slightly outdated info or things that just won’t work. Luckily I was in a class that when that happened the professor would give us a handout on the corrections.

Name: Meg
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Overall a helpful good if you are taking GIS courses.
Date: Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2018
Review: I rented this book for school and the steps for how to use ArcGIS where informative and very helpful. Ironically the book isn't what caused my any issues it was the program we had to use. The book had the occasional discrepancy between it and the UI for the program ( it can't be helped because the program is updated so obnoxiously often). It was a good book but, it you need to use it I would recommend simply renting it and printing out or taking notes on pages you will need if you need it in your future or regularly in your career.

Name: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: LOVE- Super Easy to Use!
Date: Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2020
Review: I'm taking my first GIS class as an elective for my Master's program, and we are using this book. It is very descriptive, provides excellent visuals, and is incredibly easy to follow. I love that it walks you through how to do all the various features and then provides assignments to try them out on your own.

I am thoroughly enjoying this as I learn more about GIS. Excellent for an introduction to the system!

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