Whether you are selecting data for a map, in the interactive mapping application, selecting data for a report, or viewing a report, the  buttons will open up the source and date for the data you are viewing. See something out of date? Let us know.

The Margin of Error figures under the American Community Survey are not available at this time.  Check back for more tools that can show confidence intervals and conduct testing for differences.

YouAdd data is entered one entry at a time.  Small data sets that rely heavily on local knowledge of on the ground data, or will be added slowly over time should use the YouAdd Tool.  Large data sets with lots of entries (data rows) and attributes (data columns) are best done with the Data Upload tool.  Data can be easily added, filtered, and organized in Excel then uploaded. Check out the Training Materials page to see guides, exercises, and videos (coming soon) on data upload.

Yes, This is one of three methods to enter tabular data with the Data Upload tool. Both addresses and longitude/latitude data will generate points on the map.  You can also enter tabular data using pre-defined areas like zip code, city, county, and state.  Tabular data with theses location identifiers will show polygons with the user uploaded data.

NOTE: Address data containing personally-identifiable information is NOT permitted.

 

 

No, do not add any personally identifiable information such as names, phone numbers, Social Security Numbers, medical information or any other data that may provide information about a specific individual.   It is important to review data prior to uploading to ensure that personally identifiable information is not uploaded in this system.

No, Excel files should only have one worksheet.  If your raw data has multiple worksheets then create several unique excel files, each with one worksheet.

You might have an error in how you entered the address.  If your data does not match information in the database then by defalut the record will be placed at the center of the ZIP code.  To test this, use the Identify Feature tool and look at the attribute called MatchAddr. If the MatchAddr lists a ZIP code then you will know the point was placed in the centroid of the ZIP. If the address matched a street address you will see an address in the MatchAddr field.

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The maps are interactive.  Each time you create or load a map, the most updated data is being loaded into the map. Try setting your map extent to a smaller geographic area. You can always zoom in and out or even hop to a specific address using the navigation tools within the map. Also, add just a few datasets to begin. Once your map opens, you can click the "Add Data" button to add additional layers.

Go to the “Layers and Labels” tab on the right side of the page.  Put a check in the box under the ”Show” column next to the layer you want to view.  If you want to re-order data layers simply left-click on the item in the list of layers and hold down as you drag the item to the preferred order location in the Layers and Label Controls menu.  If you want to label an item check the “Label” box to see data values or names on the map.  Click the “Active” circle to enable the “Identify Feature” on that layer. 

Absolutely! On the right side of the map, Click the Layer and Label controls tab. In the column marked "Label" put a check next to the layers you'd like labeled. Labels can be modified by visiting View>Label Settings. There you can change the field used for labeling, the color and the size! Be sure to save your map under the File menu so your changes will be set until the next time you open your map.

Great question. You see that a feature is shaded and from the legend you know the range of values, but what if you want to know the exact value for that feature? Use the info button  on the tool bar and click the feature you'd like to learn more about. You may need to pick your layer from the drop down menu on the right side of the screen to retrieve the correct information. Setting your preferred layer as the "active" layer in layer and label controls will ensure that each time you click to identify a feature it will return results based on your layer of interest.

This is a great feature of our system! It allows maximum flexibility for exporting images of your map and legend to drop into your own editing environment. Click the Print button on the map tool bar 
 

Use the navigation tools within the interactive mapping window and not your browser's back and forward buttons.  The "Mapping Tool Reference Guide" on the Training Materials page has an overview of all the navigation tools.

Adding points on top of polygon layers (ex. county, tract, block group) is a great way to see two or more layers of data at once. If you are interested in viewing more than one polygon layer at a time, you might try saving the map image and dropping it into a ppt or other application.  You can then re-create the map using the other polygon layer and show the two maps side by side or one after another in a presention.

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In the mapping window go to View/Hide Surrounding Areas. There you can choose a single state, county, congressional district, or several to form a region. Word of caution: feature labels on the edges may be cut off when performing this action. Also note that when saving the map to your portfolio the hidden areas will appear again when the map is reloaded. The hide surrounding areas is only valid for the current view.

Click on the address find tool  Enter in an address and the map will zoom to that location.

The geographies you see represent the legal geographic boundary. Always re-order your data so that the water layer appears on top to create a nice cartographic product.

"A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. A GIS helps you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared. GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework." http://gis.com/content/what-gis

Here is an excellent video that describes a GIS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEaMzPo1Q7Q

The following definition was obtained Caitlin Dempsey, Editor of GIS Lounge (http://gislounge.com/what-is-gis/)

The interactive mapping tools are designed to work well on all browsers. That said, there are some known issues with some versions of Internet Explorer. If you encounter a problem and you are using IE you might try again with another browser. Please let us know when you encounter a problem so we can try to increase compatibility.

Our reports are dynamically generated and require data in a raw form to re-calculate figures on the fly. Sometimes data sources do not provide raw data, rather they provide aggregate information or indicators.  For example, a source provides the percent of people who eat bananas by county.  We can map that percentage, but without the knowing the total number of people in the county used to calculation percentage or the total number of people eating bananas in that county we cannot recalculate the percent of people who eat bananas in a multi-county area.  Thus, some data is unable to be used in the reporting environment.

Click the  button at the top of the Report Card area for a complete listing of the data found in the Report Card.

We do plan to expand the Report Card tool to include other geographies. It should be noted that the smaller the geography, the less data will be available for  that report. There are not too many options for data at the sub-county level. We will be examining some options for expanding this tool in the future.