Lab 4: ArcGIS Tutorials

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5

    This lab was not a difficult lab however it still posed various challenges for me during the whole process. The first exercise I finished in class during our lab section. I had no problems at the time. I read and followed the directions and was able to complete the exercise with relative ease. And because I thought it the rest of the exercises would be similar, I did the rest outside of class time and from computers that were not in the lab.
    The other exercises were not hard as well, but I came across many challenges. First of all, the lab itself was very tedious and time consuming, however the directions were very easy to follow. I did have to go back and forth constantly, checking to see if I clicked the right button or followed the right directions when I was suppose to, but it was not a difficult task. I had trouble finding certain stuff in the program because I was not familiar with the technicalities of the ArcGIS. Other than that, the lab processes was relatively easy.
    I had a lot of problems with how I saved my work though. There were times were I had to locate the layer files from my USB drive, and later when I went back to look over my work, I would get an exclamation point next to the new data frames I created because the program was unable to locate those layers. I thought I saved my files and layers onto my USB drive, but for some reason the program would not read the information off of it. So I had to start over and drag my whole folder onto the computer and work off the computer itself. After I was finished, I dragged the the folder back onto my USB drive. I had to contact my friend that was in Advance GIS for help when such incidents were occurring. I essentially had to redo all the exercises because I saved the layer files in the wrong place. It was very fustrating, but I must admit, going through the exercises a second time did help me get to know the program better.
     I felt the lab itself was worthwhile because I do feel better acquainted with ArcGIS. The program is no longer as intimidating as I thought it was going to be. I like knowing that I have some what of a grasp on what the program is about and the technical terms associated with using the program. The lab served as a good introduction to the use of ArcGIS.