Unlocking the Census with GIS is an important new book describing how geographic information systems (GIS) can be used by novices and experienced users alike to better access, understand, manage, and analyze myriad kinds of census data and census-related information and present it in a spatial format.

This easy-to-navigate volume includes an introduction to the Census of Population and Housing; a look at the Economic Census and other economic data sources; hands-on explanations of how to acquire census data and census maps and then connect the two; a detailed tutorial on using American FactFinder, the Census Bureau's main Web-based data access tool; guidelines on using databases to manage and link census data; helpful discussions of demographic, social, and economic variables; detailed explanations of housing and transportation data; and guides to disseminating the results of census analyses. An ample number of maps, tables, sidebars, and in-depth "boxed" examples and explanations help guide readers to a fuller understanding of the census and how valuable it can be to those using powerful GIS software tools.