DataFerrett example:
Finding data and mapping
food insecurity
University of Illinois Library
Eric Johnson - 2012
Goals for today
• Learn how to find data using DataFerrett
• Transform that data into a form that ArcMap
can use
• Find corresponding shape files
• Visualize the data in ArcMap
The question
• Some children in the U.S. that aren’t sure
they will have their next meal.
• Sometimes called “Food InSecurity”
• Which states have the fewest people
with Food Security? (Ie. the most
InSecurity)
Data Ferrett
• Is part of the US census bureau
• It is another way to access the data in
American Fact Finder 2
http://factfinder2.census.gov
• FERRETT= Federated Electronic Research,
Review, Extraction & Tabulation Tool
Browse to
http://dataferrett.census.gov/
dataferrett.census.gov/run.html
quarterhorse.dsd.census.gov/TheData
Web/launchBetaDFA.html
Both Java and pop-ups need to be enabled.
The email address is used to send
notifications that batch data is ready
Data Ferrett tool
•
Search for
“Children Food Security Status”
Select a variable
Pick the values
Find the Geographies
Select States
Select all states
Save the Codebook
Put the States in the spreadsheet
Add the Food Security variable
Look at the Weightings
Search for weight definitions
Pick Weight and Get Data
Copy the data
Paste the Data
Format the data for ArcMap
Save the spreadsheet
Now that we have the data, we need
to get the shape files.
Navigating to the download page
Selecting the “States” shapefiles
Picking the year and collection
Expand the zip file
“Shape files” is plural
Let’s put this all together
Open ArcMap to a new document
Add the data
Add the shapes
What it looks like in ArcMap
Compare the Column Names
Compare with the other layer
Join the layer to the data
Select the join columns
Set the Fields & Pick the colors
Zoom
The result
Make a printable page
Other workshops in this series
• Library GIS 101 – An introduction to some of
the ways people are using GIS. Examples of
maps and GIS tools in action.
• Library GIS 103 – ArcGIS: Importing images
and giving them locations, creating shape
files, shading areas of proximity
Survey
• What GIS skills would you like to learn?
For more help…
• Scholarly Commons for one-on-one
consultation.
http://www.library.illinois.edu/sc/
• ATLAS data services and GIS training
http://www.atlas.illinois.edu/services/stats/w
orkshops/registration/
• ArcGIS classes at U. of I.: ESE 379, GEOG 105,
GEOG 379, LIS 490GIG, LIS 490GIL(online),
NRES 454, UP 418, UP 519
• Links to numeric and spatial data
http://www.library.illinois.edu/datagis/