New to GIS.

[JesseCaney]

I'm brand new to the GIS community and am trying to wrap my head around the application. I plan on having a career as a wildlife biologist of some sort and I've been told I should be familiar with the program. I downloaded the ArcGIS explorer for desktop but I can't seem to load any maps onto it. Is there something I'm missing? All that appears is a white screen with some arctic cricle, prime meridian etc. I tried to use the Harvard GIS tutorial on how to actually use it but as i stated above I can't open any examples. I unzip the files and replace them into the C drive but it won't even find them when I go to open them. They end dbf i'm not familiar with what that means. If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong or any information that could help me I'd appreciate it.

[TimWitt2]

Hey Jesse,

what you need to download is ArcGIS for Desktop | Free Trial

Once you have done this watch videos like this Esri Training | Getting Started with GIS

ESRI is offering a lot of free training on this website.

Hope this helps!

Tim

[JesseCaney]

I appreciate your reply Tim. Is that a different version from the one that I currently have. I have the ArcGIS explorer desktop 32 bit.

[TimWitt2]

ArcGIS Explorer is more a program where you can look at data but not really do "much" with it.

With ArcGIS Desktop you can create your own data, edit data, analyze data ,,,, If you want to start using ArcGIS I would recommend starting with ArcGIS Desktop.

[JesseCaney]

Excellent thank you!

[JesseCaney]

Should I proceed to download each link. I have downloaded the ArcGIS for desktop but I can't run the program. I have access to ArcGIS administrator but this doesn't allow me to open the software.

[OwenEarley]

ArcGIS Administrator is where you enter license details. There should be an Authorize Now button that walks you through the process.

However, you will need to enter a registration key that you get through the trial or home use license. It may be best to contact your local ESRI distributor to complete this step.

[JesseCaney]

I have a key and I've entered it. I get a prompt that tells me all applications have been authorized on this machine and it just brings me back to the administrator.

[OwenEarley]

You should be able to open ArcMap directly now that it has been authorized.

[JesseCaney]

It worked. I was probably doing something wrong before and thats why it wouldn't open for me. Now I get to dive in and give it a go!