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ArcVoyager Makes ArcView Easy
What Is ArcVoyager?"ArcVoyager" was created by ESRI's Schools and Libraries team to go along with ArcView. It is a 50-mb package of carefully selected data, ArcView projects, and help files, in a tiered format. There are comparable Windows and Macintosh versions. The help files are written broadly to a "junior high" level, but ArcVoyager is being used effectively by elementary teachers, middle school students, high schoolers, librarians, college instructors, museum professionals, or parents. 
ArcVoyager is available in ArcView 3.x formats for Windows and Macintosh. Each one works in the same way, but is tailored to the software's capacities. When you upgrade your ArcView package, you should also upgrade your ArcVoyager package. There is also ArcVoyager Special Edition, for people who do not own a full copy of ArcView GIS. Design
Why Build ArcVoyager?ArcVoyager was built to help teachers who acquire the ArcView for Schools & Libraries bundle—a site license for ArcView software (Mac or Windows) plus 8 CDs of data, and a boatload of instructional materials—and find it almost too much of a good thing. There is so much power in the software, and so many choices for data, and the mindset needs to shift so radically (from simple exploration of an electronic atlas to critical analysis of patterns and trends on a scale from global to local) that it can be challenging for many teachers to figure out what to do. "Where do I start, and how on earth do I remember everything?" The goal of ArcVoyager is to give students and teachers a ramped approach for developing their spatial thinking and learning how to employ ArcView tools. After getting comfortable with the "ArcVoyager training wheels," they should be able to shed the wheels and use the standard ArcView tools and available digital data to explore the world, at a scale from local to global. Within ArcVoyager data, users will find information at several different levels: cities and countries of the world; and states, counties, and cities of the US. One state in particular (Georgia) is profiled, but almost the exact same profile could be developed for any state using the data and tools in ArcVoyager. Users in the US can drill down to see characteristics of their county and surrounding counties. They can add other data sets to ArcVoyager projects as they develop facility and acquire more information. ArcVoyager is not a curriculum. ArcVoyager is a toolkit that is ready to be used in support of their existing curriculum, but which also opens doors to new ways of learning. ArcVoyager Special EditionTo run ArcVoyager, you need ArcView GIS software. Without a regular installation of ArcView, you cannot run ArcVoyager. But we have created a slightly reduced version, called "ArcVoyager Special Edition," which contains the critical elements of ArcView software and ArcVoyager data. Even if you do not have ArcView, you can still install and run the ArcVoyager Special Edition. ArcVoyager Special Edition allows you to explore far and wide ... adding data, printing maps, querying themes, and almost all the standard ArcVoyager activities. Compared with the regular edition of ArcVoyager, the only limitations in the Special Edition are that it cannot save project files, shapefiles, or data files; and it cannot open other ArcView projects. You can still print, capture screen shots, and analyze endlessly. ArcVoyager Special Edition is on our "GIS for Schools and Libraries CD version 5," available for free upon request. The materials on the CD including ArcVoyager Special Edition can be installed on any number of computers, including those at students' homes! People may install ArcVoyager Special Edition on any number of stand-alone computers that are robust enough for GIS, but where ArcView is not yet installed. (If ArcView is already installed, use the regular version of ArcVoyager, above.) Download the appropriate install file. Each contains the runtime software, data, projects, and help file. Be sure to select the file for your platform. Also, note that these are VERY LARGE DOWNLOADS! Download ArcVoyager Special Edition installer for Macintosh (37 MB)
Download ArcVoyager Special Edition installer for Windows (37 MB)
ArcVoyager DownloadsYou can download items below. Or, you can request a CD with these items. Download ArcVoyager demonstration screenshow (1 MB, Astound for Windows ZIP file) Download ArcVoyager demonstration screenshow (1.5 MB, Astound for Macintosh self-extracting archive) Download and execute a self-running screenshow to see sample screens from ArcVoyager and learn how it works. ArcVoyager for ArcView GIS 3.x Schools and libraries may install ArcVoyager on any number of stand-alone computers or local area networks where ArcView is already installed. (For settings where ArcView is not already installed, use "ArcVoyager Special Edition.") Download the appropriate version of the install file. Each contains the data, projects, and help file. Be sure to select the correct file for your version of ArcView. Also, please note that these are all LARGE DOWNLOADS! Download ArcVoyager full install file for ArcView 3.0 for Windows (14 MB)
Download ArcVoyager full install file for ArcView 3.1 or 3.2 for Windows (22 MB) Download ArcVoyager full install file for ArcView 3.0a for Macintosh (13 MB)
ArcVoyager Lessons and ActivitiesArcVoyager contains several "Jump-Start" lessons within its documents directory. These lessons will get you up and exploring with the tool, after installation has been completed. Other lessons are available online here. Download "Practice Questions" is a 2-page exercise set that introduces users to operations in the "Show Me: World Atlas" (Level Two of ArcVoyager) section and "Point Me: World Atlas" (Level Three of ArcVoyager) section. Download Puzzle #1: "Returning Raster" is an introductory "find where I belong" activity using "Show Me: World Atlas" (Level Two of ArcVoyager). This activity is appropriate for students in grades 2 and up (allow 30 minutes). Download Puzzle #2: "The Quest for Gisium" is an introductory "find me on the planet" activity using "Show Me: World Atlas" (Level Two of ArcVoyager). This activity is appropriate for students in grades 2 and up (allow 30 minutes). Download Puzzle #3: "Case of the Missing Ship" is an exercise that introduces users to how much powerful data there is in the "Show Me: World Atlas" (Level Two of ArcVoyager) section, and how much can be accomplished by applying good critical thinking. This activity has been tested and found effective following minimal introduction for both K-6 students (allow 60 minutes) and 7-12 students (allow 30 minutes). Download Puzzle #4: "Lost City of Franklin Shaw" is an exercise similar to "Missing Ship." It uses "Show Me: World Atlas" (Level Two of ArcVoyager) section, but calls for more skill in interpreting data. This activity has been tested and found effective following minimal introduction for 7-12 students (allow 45 minutes). Download Puzzle #5: "Magic Dan" is a "business siting exercise" using "Show Me: World Atlas" (Level Two of ArcVoyager). This activity calls for a little more skill in interpreting data. This activity is appropriate for students in grades 7 and up (allow 45 minutes). Download Puzzle #6: "HAL 2001" is another "business siting exercise," but requires students to use "ArcVoyager Point Me: US Reference Map" (Level Three), and calls for skill in isolating data sets and using selection by logical question. This activity is appropriate for students in grades 5 and up (allow 45 minutes). Download Puzzle #7: "The Left-Handed Chocolate Caper" is a "find the hostage" exercise requiring "ArcVoyager Point Me: World Physical Map" (Level Three), and calls for skill in isolating data sets and using selection by logical question. This activity is appropriate for students in grades 5 and up (allow 45 minutes). Download Puzzle #8: "Storing Gisium" is a "siting" exercise requiring "ArcVoyager Point Me: US Reference Map" (Level Three), and the ESRI GIS for Schools & Libraries CD. The exercise requires deleting and adding several data sets, and calls for skill in isolating data sets and using selection by logical question. This activity is appropriate for students in grades 5 and up (allow 45 minutes). Download "Exploring US Landforms" helps users begin expanding on the projects that come with ArcVoyager. Students add new ArcVoyager thematic layers, investigate relationships among themes, and gain new GIS tool skills. (Place the lesson in "\voyager\documnts\lessons\". Macintosh users should be sure to grab the replacement for "US48_DIV.SHP" noted in the section below.) Download "ArcVoyager Training Tasks" is a 33-page set of exercises walking users through "Turn Me Loose: Creating New Worlds" to create three sequences of three maps each—a world sequence, a US states sequence, and counties of a US state sequence. Download Joining Data (0.8 MB compressed file) is a powerful process for enhancing your existing data sets. Because external tables can be joined to existing shapefiles in ArcView and ArcVoyager, users can have access to infinite volumes of data. This lesson walks users through using TIGER 1995 data (also see TIGER lesson) for Washington, DC, joining an external data set to the block groups of DC. The instructions work within standard ArcView GIS (versions 2.0 or higher, for either Windows or Macintosh) or within ArcVoyager (regular or Special Edition). Download Using GLOBE Data in ArcVoyager (0.4 MB compressed file) is a HyperStudio stack giving a powerful visual display of how GLOBE data can be used in ArcVoyager. (HyperStudio readers are available for free download.) Users can engage ArcVoyager to map data from the GLOBE program. Download Exploring GLOBE Data with GIS (0.8 MB Acrobat file) is a step-by-step "how-to" for downloading data from the GLOBE Web site and bringing it into ArcVoyager for mapping and analysis. The GLOBE program is a wonderful educational event, and made much more powerful when students are given the opportunity to be their own scientists—to do their own analysis. Download Using GLOBE World Images (2.6 MB compressed file) is a very powerful intro to making your own georegistered images. Day after day, GLOBE provides some powerful instructional tools in the form of world images. You can download powerful images each day, and integrate these into world analyses with a very simple process: download, easy conversion, copy a file, rename it, make a map. This lesson pack includes images covering Hurricane Floyd, and makes a powerful earth science lesson by itself. ArcVoyager Special Edition and ArcView both can use TIF images; ArcView can also display JPG images. Download Using GLOBE Data in ArcVoyager (2.3 MB compressed file) is a 5-minute video (.AVI format, which can be played using current media players on both Windows and Macintosh format), showing the use of GLOBE data. It shows the process of displaying a week of maximum air daily temperature readings, selecting a single day out of the week, setting the classification and symbolization, and zooming in to see a local pattern. ArcVoyager DataArcVoyager contains a large volume of "on-board" data, carefully described in a document included in the installation (\voyager\documnts\referncs\dictnary.pdf). For an easy-to-download alternative listing, you can download this 20 KB geographical and topical index to the 27 MB of data contained in ArcVoyager. (Place this in \voyager\documnts\referncs.) ArcVoyager can display shapefiles, coverages, and a variety of image formats similar to ArcView. ArcVoyager can also add data tables for joining to existing themes or for creating new point themes. The volume of data that can be added to projects is limited only by computer resources. ArcVoyager can also take advantage of all the ArcInfo Export files (*.e00) available on the web. Users of PC or Macintosh can download the appropriate import utility. ArcVoyager SupportArcVoyager was built so that little support would be necessary. If you can install software, you'll no doubt be able to use ArcVoyager without any assistance. However if questions do arise, use the Online Discussion Conference. |
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