11.188 Lab #2 - Feb. 21, 2012

TODAY'S JOIN.ME - 272-029-933

LAB #2: Mostly more thematic mapping + Windows issues and a bit of Coordinate Systems
  (0) Navigating Windows and AFS file system directory trees
      - that is, using network Drives Z; and M: and local C:\TEMP
	  - Changing 'workspace' and 'scratchspace' to local C:\TEMP
  (1) Exploratory map - comparing population of Cambridge blockgroups 
      with and without normalizing by block group area,
  (2) Explanatory map - examining spatial relationship between land use 
      and housing prices,
  (3) Comparison of Cambridge land use map in Mass State Plane and 
      Geographic (lat/lon) coordinates
  (4) Creating maps as PDF files
  (5) Getting more comfortable with ArcMap: symbology, legend options, 
      scale bar, north arrow, annotation, ArcGIS help files, ...

Lab #2 presentation:
  -- Review Windows and AFS navigation and 'attach' issues in 37-312 and 
     other WinAthena sites
  -- When you save files and documents, AVOID USING SPACES AND SPECIAL
     CHARACTERS (& % ^ ...) IN YOUR NAMES
  -- Using the 'Source' tab in the ArcMap TOC and correcting saved MSD 
     documents. 
  -- How to reset the data source when shapefiles have been moved 
  -- Highlight key parts of ArcMap that we will use: 
     layer properties - symbology, labeling, ...; 
  -- Recognize that map annotations using simple graphic tools 
     are not registered with coordinates.
  -- Think about the planning and spatial analysis implications of your 
     mapping.  Who cares about the population distribution across
	 Cambridge?  What measures of density are meaningful for what 
	 purpose? What biases arise because some socio-economic aspects
	 of Cambridge are easy to measure/visualize and other aspects
	 are hard to capture?
  -- Workarounds when shapefiles are big and slow down the machine a lot 
     (turn off some of the features; save a smaller portion of the 
     shapefile; copy the file to a local drive; etc.)

Optional Lab, Friday, 2-3:30 again in Room 37-312
and Sunday, 3-5 pm

Think about good times for occasional 'recitation sections' that divide the 
class into smaller groups and review material or answer questions.