If you have ArcGIS 9.3 and have a bunch of addresses you need to geocode, you probably want to use the Data & Maps Address Locator's for the US.  The address locators are now available to download here on Mapshare.  Follow the instructions on how to use these geocoders from the ESRI knowledge base:

• US Address Locators (900MB zipped, 2GB unzipped)
• About the address locators
• Instructions on using the address locators

SimplyMap is a great place to create quick thematic maps.  Not only that, but it also allows users to create reports comparing various data across numerous geographical areas.  But what makes this resource most valuable for GIS users is that you can export the data and corresponding shapefiles and use them in your own ArcGIS projects. 

SimplyMap offers hundreds of variables covering the entire United States down to the census block group level. The following is a list of data categories available:

Census 2000 Data
Census 2006 Estimates
Census 2007 Estimates
Census 2011 Projections
Census 2012 Projections
Consumer Expenditure 2006
Consumer Expenditure 2007
Consumer Expenditure 2011
Consumer Expenditure 2012
Businesses Counts 2006
Business Counts 2007
Market Segments 2006
Quality of Life 2006
Consumer Price Index 2006
Retail Sales 2006
Sales Potential 2006
MRI Consumer Survey Data 2006
Life Stage Clusters 2007
Market Segments 2007
Quality of Life 2007
Consumer Price Index 2007
Retail Sales 2007
Sales Potential 2007
MRI Consumer Survey Data 2007

Note that the current campus licensing allows for 5 concurrent users, so if you are not able to log on, please try again at some other time.

• SimplyMap login page
• SimplyMap variable list
  
• SimplyMap Quick Tutorial

UCLA has received a grant from the Keck Foundation to develop an undergraduate curriculum in Digital Cultural Mapping.

Over the past decade, digital humanities at UCLA has distinguished itself by developing cutting-edge research in geo-temporal mapping using a wide-range of digital information archives, web-based media forms, virtual reality systems, and multimedia databases. The undergraduate curriculum in digital cultural mapping represents the next phase of development for digital humanities at UCLA, a field that has pioneered creative ways of weaving together the tradition of a critical, broad-based liberal arts education with the challenges and possibilities presented by new technologies. By bringing the analytic tools of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and other map-based digital applications together with traditional methods of humanistic inquiry, Digital Cultural Mapping teaches students to use new technologies to investigate and map a wide-range of cultural, historical, and social dynamics. We aim to design a new series of courses in digital cultural mapping in which students learn to assemble and dissect complex datasets, to create new ways of visualizing and analyzing data, to develop reasoned arguments that resonate across disciplines, and finally to produce compelling arguments that have impact beyond the academy. It is imperative for us that our students present their results with the media tools and technologies that make their arguments and data available and visible for discussion and collaboration with their peers as well as the general public.

• KECK DCMP Flyer (PDF)

ArcGIS 9.3 has arrived!  You can check out the DVD's from Software Central.  Read what's new about 9.3 from the ESRI website.

Also exciting to note is that the 9.3 package comes with a new set of Data and Maps that have been made available to the general campus community through the MapShare website's Data Repository.  Here is what is available:

ESRI Data & Maps 9.3 includes

• Commercial data from Tele Atlas, AND Mapping, WorldSat, EarthSat, Michael Bauer Research, World Wildlife Fund, SIGSA, and ESRI
• 90-meter Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) dataset
• All levels of U.S. Census geography and ZIP Codes
• Tele Atlas 2003-based StreetMap North America

Find out why Jack Dangermond (ESRI Founder) and John Hanke (Keyhole/Google Earth Founder) are sharing the same stage by reading my blog of my 3 days at the Where 2.0 conference.

• Where 2.0 Conference Blog

Famed geographer Michael Goodchild came to UCLA on May 8th, 2008 and spoke at our EXP lecture series on "Geospatial Tools in the Humanities". His lecture is now available to view online:

• about the lecture
• link to lecture video

UCLA Facilities Management and Space Inventory Services have developed an interactive campus map with a number of helpful features that make it easier to identify destinations and navigate around campus. Campus features such as buildings, points of interest, and streets can be located and identified by using selection menus or clicking on areas on the map, and users can also navigate using pan and zoom tools.

The map links geographic and spatial data to detailed information about nearly all campus locations stored in a comprehensive space inventory database.  It also supports spatial and visual analysis by allowing dynamic, data-driven transparent layers to be superimposed over the base map.

The map will continue to undergo improvements, and comments and suggestions from users are welcome.