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This guide was created by the staff of the GIS/Data Center at Rice University and is to be used for individual educational purposes only. The steps outlined in this guide require access to ArcGIS Pro software and data that is available both online and at Fondren Library.

The following text styles are used throughout the guide:

Explanatory text appears in a regular font.

  1. Instruction text is numbered.
  2. Required actions are underlined.
  3. Objects of the actions are in bold.

Folder and file names are in italics.

Names of Programs, Windows, Panes, Views, or Buttons are Capitalized.

'Names of windows or entry fields are in single quotation marks.'

"Text to be typed appears in double quotation marks."

Obtaining the Tutorial Data

Before beginning the tutorial, you will copy all of the required tutorial data onto your Desktop. Option 1 is best if you are completing this tutorial in one of our short courses or from the GIS/Data Center and Option 2 is best if you are completing the tutorial from your own computer.

OPTION 1: Accessing tutorial data from Fondren Library using the gistrain profile

If you are completing this tutorial from a public computer in Fondren Library and are logged on using the gistrain profile, follow the instructions below:

  1. On the Desktop, double-click the Computer icon > gisdata (\\file-rnas.rice.edu) (O:) > Short_Courses > Demographic_and_Business_Data_Series > Bringing_Census_Data_Into_ArcGIS > BringingCensusData
  2. To create a personal copy of the tutorial data, drag the BringingCensusData folder onto the Desktop.
  3. Close all windows.

OPTION 2: Accessing tutorial data online using a personal computer

If you are completing this tutorial from a personal computer, you will need to download the tutorial data online by following the instructions below:

Tutorial Data Download

  •  BringingCensusData
  1. Click BringingCensusData.zip above to download the tutorial data.
  2. Open the Downloads folder.
  3. Right-click BringingCensusData.zip and select Extract All....
  4. In the 'Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders' window, accept the default location into the Downloads folder and click Extract.
  5. Drag the unzipped BringingCensusData folder onto your Desktop.
  6. Close all windows.

Tabular Data

Explore Data

The folder you downloaded contains an unprocessed data table that appear as it would if you downloaded it directly from the web site.

  1. Open the Excel document titled AmericanFactFinderDownload.csv.

This data would require a lot of reformatting. The many layers of headers must be condensed because ArcGIS can only read one header row containing field names. There are several identifying columns containing duplicate information, but only the second column presents the ID in a way we want to use.

  1. Open SimplyMapDownload.csv.

This data is nearly ready to use. A few of the field names need updating to include only alphanumeric characters and underscores (# and spaces, for example, are not allowed). The column widths also need to be resized to display all the cell contents.

  1. Open SocialExplorerDownload.csv.

This data is not ready to use, but it does not require extensive reformatting. We will use this table as an example.

  1. Close both AmericanFactFinderDownload.csv and SimplyMapDownload.csv.

For ArcGIS to be able to read your table, it must be formatted appropriately.

  1. Select Columns A though AB in the SocialExplorerDownload. csv table by clicking on the gray area in the top-left hand corner of the table. Double-click on the line between any two columns to resize the column widths. All cell contents should be visible.
  2. Delete unneeded columns:
    1. The identifying fields repeat information that we don’t need. Delete Area Name-Legal/Statistical Area Description, Qualifying Name, Summary Level, Geographic Component, State (FIPS), County, County Size Code, County Subdivision, and Census Tract. Be sure to keep FIPS.
    2. Delete the copy of Total Population.
    3. Delete all columns after Total Population: Hispanic or Latino.
    4. Rename the field names with the following criteria: Remove all spaces and special characters, must begin with a letter, fewer than 64 characters. Keeps FIPS as it is. TotalPop. NonHispanic. White.etc
  3. Delete Row 2 with “SE_T055_001”


  4. Click File > Save As.Select the BringingCensusData folder.
  5. Under ‘Save as type:’ select the top option, ‘Excel Workbook (*.xlsx)’. ClickSave.

Geographic Features

A Shapefile is a digital vector storage format for storing geometric location and associated attribute information.

Downloading TIGER/Line

We will obtain our geography from the Census Bureau.

  1. Open a web browser. Search for “TIGER/Line.”
  2. Select the first option for Census.gov.
  3. Navigate to the 2010 TIGER/Line Shapefiles.
  4. Click on the Download tray to expand it.
  5. Under Download by File Type, select Web Interface.
  6. For ‘Select year’, choose 2010.
  7. For ‘Select a layer type’, choose Census Tracts. Click Submit.
  8. Under Census Tract (2010) ‘Select a State’, select Texas.
  9. Under ‘Select a County’, select Harris County. Click Download. tl_2010_48201_tract10.zip will begin to download.

 

 

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