Bookshelf Taking the Next Step Build analytic skills through realistic exercises Intermediate GIS users have a way to continue building their skills, specifically in the area of GIS analysis, with GIS Tutorial II: Spatial Analysis Workbook, the most recent workbook from Esri Press. This book is the sequel to GIS Tutorial, Workbook for ArcView 9, Third Edition, a popular introductory text for ArcGIS. Other workbooks released by Esri Press in recent years were targeted at users in specific industries such as health and homeland security. This text assumes a basic knowledge of ArcGIS Desktop applications and teaches spatial analysis techniques in the context of solving the kinds of problems encountered in the real world. It applies the concepts explained in the two-volume series The Esri Guide to GIS Analysis by Andy Mitchell. Chapters in GIS Tutorial II not only correspond to specific chapters in the Mitchell books but also share the same titles. Esri Is Your Total Solution Provider Total solutions from Esri can provide technology you need at prices you can afford. Esri works with leading hardware vendors to provide bundled solutions that include ArcGIS® Server, ArcGIS Desktop, ArcPad®, and much more. For example, you can purchase an ArcGIS Data Appliance or a server, workstation, notebook, k i b k GPS Handheld, or Tablet PC bundled with ArcGIS software. Custom hardware-only configurations are also available to existing a Esri customers. For more information on promotional offers, visit www.esri.com/hardware or call your local Esri office. Offers are updated frequently. "Spatial analysis is the problem-solving aspect of GIS," writes David W. Allen, author of GIS Tutorial II. "With this book, the reader will not create any new data, but will generate new files based on existing data. That's because analysis isn't about creating new data; it's about making existing data say new things." The topics covered in the book include classification, assessing quantities and densities, location analysis, change detection, value comparision, geographic distribution, pattern analysis, and cluster identification. Allen is the GIS manager for the City of Euless, Texas, and has worked with GIS in the public and private sectors for more than 25 years. Longtime readers of this magazine may remember Allen as the author of "Fire Hydrant Maintenance Using GPS and GIS," an article that appeared in the January–March 2000 issue of ArcUser. For the last eight years, Allen has also been a GIS instructor at Tarrant County College in Texas and has helped develop the GIS degree program there as well as establishing a state standard for GIS degree programs in Texas. This book benefits from Allen's real-world experience. The tutorial data was derived from GIS datasets used by local governments, and the scenarios that are the basis for the exercises reflect tasks GIS practitioners are often called on to perform. In addition to the sample data for completing the exercises in the book, a 180-day evaluation copy of ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 is also provided. GIS Tutorial II can be purchased from online retailers, at www.esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, visit www.esri.com/esripressorders for complete ordering options or contact a local Esri distributor. Esri Press, 2009, 408 pp., ISBN: 978-1589482012 www.esri.com 56 ArcUser Fall 2009 Copyright © 2009 Esri. All rights reserved.