Geospatial Data Sources - EDC Resources

Introduction

The Electronic Data Center's holdings contain several resources for geospatial data, from a mix of private and public sources. Our most detailed resources are for the United States, but the resources are international in scope and provide data on a range of topics such as national and subnational boundaries, population densities, locations of major cities, transportation infrastructure, and so forth. In addition to the resources listed on this site, we have also compiled a collection of geospatial data resources available on-line. The Data Center's public workstations also provide access to ESRI's ArcView 9.2 desktop GIS software, including ESRI's reference manuals in .pdf format. On-line help pages and tutorials are available from the following sites:

"ArcGIS Desktop Version 9 Introductory Tutorial," from the GIS & Maps Division of the University of Arkansas Libraries

"ArcGIS FAQ," from ESRI Canada

"Guides and Tutorials - Spatial Data," from the University of Michigan Libraries' Numeric and Spatial Data Services

In addition to the services it provides for users of quantitative data and statistics, the Electronic Data Center is also a service point for GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Data Center staff will provide users with reference assistance in locating geospatial data sources and with technical assistance in working with those sources in ArcView. Please note, however, that the Data Center does not produce maps for patrons. For more information, please feel free to contact the Data Center staff.

Geospatial Data Resources

Atlanta Regional Information System (Emory Only):

Geographic data and map layers published by the Atlanta Regional Commission, available on the Web but limited to Emory patrons.

Includes Atlanta area hydrography, transportation features, census tracts, zip codes, land use, and more

Global GIS Databases from the United States Geological Survey (USGS):

The Electronic Data Center has copies of the following digital atlases on CD/DVD:

  • Africa
  • Central and South America
  • Europe
  • North America
  • North Eurasia
  • South Asia
  • South Pacific
  • Global GIS Global Coverage DVD

The information that is generally available in these digital atlases includes the following:

  • Country Boundaries
  • Administrative Boundaries
  • Airfields, Roads, Utility Lines
  • Major Cities, Towns and Villages, and Urban Areas
  • Volcanoes, Earthquakes
  • Oil and Gas Fields, Ore Deposits, Drainage Basins
  • Ecological Regions
  • Rivers and Streams, Wells and Dams
  • Population
  • Land Cover

Neighborhood Change Database (NCDB):

This database from the Geolytics Corporation contains tract-level data from the 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 U.S. Census. The NCDB allows users to "normalize" data from pre-2000 iterations of the Census and convert the data into 2000 Census tracts. Users can export the data into Excel-ready spreadsheets and also create digital tract boundary files for use with ArcView.

ARC-GIS Europe CD:

This CD from the Environmental Studies Research Institute contains the following data:

  • Canals, Rivers, Highways, Railroads,
  • National Political Boundaries, Countries, Major Cities, Urban Centers
  • Subnational/Subcentral Administrative Boundaries (province-level with code)

ESRI Data & Maps Media Kit:

This CD/DVD collection, published by the Environmental Studies Research Institute, consists of 8 disks total and comes with the ArcView software package. The contents of the disks include (but are not confined to) the following topics:

World:

  • Country and Administrative Unit Boundaries and Major Cities
  • Demographics
  • Places and airports
  • Lakes and rivers

Europe:

  • Country and Statistical Unit Boundaries, Cities, and Urbanized Areas
  • Highways, Rivers, and Railroads
  • Regional, Country, and Provice/State-level Demographics

Canada:

  • Provincial Boundaries and Cities
  • Highways, Railways, and Water Bodies

Mexico:

  • State Boundaries and Cities
  • Highways, Lakes and Rivers
  • Demographics

United States:

  • States, Counties, Cities, Places, ZIP Code Areas (3- and 5-digit)
  • Census Boundaries (Urbanized Areas, Tracts, Block Groups)
  • Congressional Districts
  • Roads and Highways, Water Bodies
  • GDT Landmarks (e.g. Recreation Areas, Transportation Terminals)
  • Geographic Names Information System Cultural Points (e.g. Churches, Hospitals)
  • National Transportation Atlas
  • National Atlas of the United States

Please note that the data on the "Data & Maps" disks that ESRI distributes with its desktop GIS software are not "backwards compatible." They cannot be read by earlier versions of the desktop software (e.g. the data that come with ArcView 9.x cannot be read by ArcView 8.x) due to the file compression that ESRI applies to the data. However, it is possible to convert the data so that they can be used with earlier versions of ArcView. Please contact the Data Center staff if you will need assistance with this task. Also note that the Center has earlier versions of ESRI's "Data & Maps" available for use.

National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD):

This 2-CD database from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics is, to quote the BTS, "a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and associated infrastructure. These datasets include spatial information for transportation modal networks and intermodal terminals, as well as the related attribute information for these features." The CD's include layers of data for features such as airports, Amtrak stations, hazardous-material routes, Census geography boundaries (e.g. counties, congressional districts), and some environmental-themed data. The Data Center has NTAD CD's for 1995, 2001, and 2003-2006. 2006 data are also available on-line from the BTS.

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