mit geodata repository search tool for arcgis help guide

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MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide Getting Started Logging In Searching for Data Spatial Search Search Results Metadata Working with the data from the Geodata Repository Data from Geoweb General Search Hints Getting started The MIT Geodata Repository provides easy, online access to a large amount of the data held by MIT GIS Services. One way to access the repository is via the MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS. The ArcGIS tool is for academic use by current members of the MIT community. The search tool currently only accesses MIT-owned spatial datato access spatial data from both MIT and MIT partner institutions, use Geoweb, a browser-based alternative to the ArcGIS search tool. 1. In order to browse holdings through this search tool, one must first create an account. Accounts can be created and managed via the web here. 2. Click on “Create a User Account”. (You will need your personal MIT certificates in order to create or change your Geodata Repository account information.) 3. Check that ESRI's ArcGIS software is installed on the computer. 4. Open ArcMap (the search tool does not run in other ArcGIS applications). 5. Check that the MIT Geodata Search tool is installed.

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Page 1: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

Getting Started

Logging In

Searching for Data

Spatial Search

Search Results

Metadata

Working with the data from the Geodata Repository

Data from Geoweb

General Search Hints

Getting started

The MIT Geodata Repository provides easy, online access to a large amount of the data held by MIT GIS Services.

One way to access the repository is via the MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS. The ArcGIS tool is for

academic use by current members of the MIT community. The search tool currently only accesses MIT-owned spatial

data— to access spatial data from both MIT and MIT partner institutions, use Geoweb, a browser-based alternative to

the ArcGIS search tool.

1. In order to browse holdings through this search tool, one must first create an account. Accounts can be created

and managed via the web here.

2. Click on “Create a User Account”. (You will need your personal MIT certificates in order to create or change

your Geodata Repository account information.)

3. Check that ESRI's ArcGIS software is installed on the computer.

4. Open ArcMap (the search tool does not run in other ArcGIS applications).

5. Check that the MIT Geodata Search tool is installed.

Page 2: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

6. If you do not see the MIT Geodata Search Toolbar (including the buttons "Search Metadata" or “Data from

Geoweb”) in the toolbar window or elsewhere on your screen, then right-click in the grey toolbar area and select

“MIT Geodata Repository Toolbar” from the drop down list. If you do not see "MIT Geodata Repository

Toolbar" as an option in your list of tools then you will need to download it from the MIT IS&T web site

(certificates required) and run the .exe file.

Logging In

To log in to the MIT Geodata Repository Toolbar, click on “Search Metadata” or “Data from Geoweb”. A log in

prompt will appear.

Page 3: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

Searching for Data

To access the search, click “Search Metadata” on the MIT Geodata Search Toolbar and log in if necessary.

Boston search:

1. Enter the search string "Boston" as the Place

Page 4: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

2. Click the “Start Search” button. Search results will appear below the search form.

Page 5: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

Boston search results:

3. You can also search using a keyword instead of a place name. Enter the search string “cities” as the keyword,

and click “Start Search”.

Page 6: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

Search and results for Cities:

Page 7: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

The Search dialog allows you to search using both the place and keyword criteria. For example, if you would like

information on building footprints in Boston, you might enter "Boston" in the place search box and "buildings" in the

keywords search box.

Boston parcel search and results:

Page 8: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

When inputting more than one place or keyword, searches look through the metadata for either:

1) all of these terms or;

2) any of these terms.

You can change this setting under each search box. Read the search hints for more tips on searching.

Page 9: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

Spatial Search

You can use the spatial search check box to limit your search results to the area displayed in your ArcMap window.

The spatial search is most effective when you already have data added to your map window. Otherwise it will return all

records from throughout the world. The example below shows a keyword search for parcels limited to the area

surrounding Cambridge, MA fire stations.

Keyword and spatial search and results:

Page 10: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

You can also check this box to look for data covering a specific area, without using any place names or keywords. This

spatial search checks the bounding box (east-west and north-south extent of the dataset) of your ArcMap data frame

and returns results that cover the same area and have a similar size bounding box. This can be very helpful when you

know the area you are interested in, but are not sure how something may be described, spelled, or if it uses special

characters. For example - location name changes like Bombay vs Mumbai, or different descriptions used to describe

something like energy vs power.

Spatial search and results—no keywords or place names:

Page 11: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

Search Results

Results of your search and the number of records found will appear below your search criteria once you click “Start

Search”.

Use your mouse to click on the record of interest then click the "View metadata of Selected Layer(s)" button to read

the metadata, in FGDC format, in your default web browser.

Page 12: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

To add the selected layer to ArcMap, click the “Add Selected Layer(s) to Map” button.

More than one layer can be selected at a time. Once the data is added to your view you can analyze the data using

ArcGIS tools.

Page 13: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

Metadata

Metadata is key information regarding the capture, creation, copyright, distribution, scale, projection, attributes,

keywords and other details of data. The metadata file is important for understanding the data, documentation and

source citation. Many of the datalayers in the MIT Geodata Repository have specific licensing restrictions, which can

be found in the "use constraints" portion of the metadata.

Page 14: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

Working with the data from the Geodata Repository

Once a spatial data layer is added to ArcGIS, you have the ability to analyze it using any tools in ArcGIS. You can

access the same data layers, and the way you have symbolized them, in your ArcMap Document, from any computer on

the network with ArcGIS software.

If you need to edit the data you must first export it into a workspace where you have read/write permissions. It is

recommended that you only export your area of interest to keep the file size small.

Downloading data is necessary if you want to edit the data or work in a place without a network connection.

Otherwise, working off the Geodata Repository server should be sufficient.

To save your shapefile, right click on the layer name in the table of contents. Click "Data" -> "Export Data". Specify

the file name and target folder in which to store your file, and click OK.

Data from Geoweb

You can also browse for data within the MIT Geodata Repository using Geoweb, a browser-based tool to discover,

preview and retrieve geospatial data from different geospatial repositories. Geoweb allows users to share a link to data

layers using the “Share” button located in the Geoweb cart. Clicking on the “Share” button creates a link which you

can copy and use to add the data directly into ArcGIS. Within ArcGIS, click on the “Data from Geoweb” button within

the repository search toolbar. Paste the Geoweb link into the box, and click “Add Layers”. The data will now appear in

your map document. Currently, this functionality only exists for MIT-distributed layers on Geoweb.

Page 15: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide
Page 16: MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS Help Guide

General Search Hints

Wildcards An asterix (*) will work as a wildcard for multiple letters. An exclamation (!) will work as a wildcard for a single letter.

Examples:

"*parcel*" could retrieve parcel(s) and land parcel(s)

Don't make your search too narrow : If you cannot find the file you need, you may need to be less specific. For example:

If you search for "road*" and "MA", you will only find Massachusetts roads, whereas US road files would also

contain Massachusetts roads.

If you are looking for data for another country you may want to start with keyword = "world", then narrow your

search using the spatial selection tools

Good data for specific area can sometimes be found as part of global or country level dataset.