[GIS] Seeking books for learning ArcGIS Desktop

arcgis-desktopreferences

I was wondering what book(s) is/are available for learning ArcGIS Desktop functionality.

I would like to use one in conjunction with books on the theory of GIS since even though I can understand the concepts I still have trouble with how to use the more advanced ArcGIS Desktop features.

I understand there are quite a few online tutorials but I do my best learning if I have a book in front of me.

Best Answer

This question has been converted to Community Wiki and wiki locked because it is an example of a question that seeks a list of answers and appears to be popular enough to protect it from closure. It should be treated as a special case and should not be viewed as the type of question that is encouraged on this, or any Stack Exchange site, but if you wish to contribute more content to it then feel free to do so by editing this answer.

I would suggest that the best place to learn anything about ArcGIS Desktop, is in the Tutorials. These are step by step tutorials, with data, and come free with the Desktop Setup. Till 9.3.1, they were present as PDF's in the Documentation folder in C:\Program Files\ArcGIS folder.

From ArcGIS 10 onwards, they are available online here.

Suggestions by other users are:

  • I can suggest two books which can be previewed on Google Books. I have used the second book and it is reasonably good, but the first seems to be still better.

Introducing Geographic Information Systems with ArcGIS: A Workbook Approach to Learning GIS

A unique approach to learning and teaching GIS, updated for ArcGIS 9.3 Introducing Geographic Information Systems with ArcGIS, Second Edition serves as both an easy-to-understand introduction to GIS and a hands-on manual for the ArcGIS 9.3 software. This combination theory-workbook approach is designed to quickly bring the reader from GIS neophyte to well-informed GIS user from both a general knowledge and practical viewpoint.

and

Introduction to Geographic Information Systems

  • For version 9.3, GIS concepts and ArcGIS Methods is good http://www.consplan.com/arcgis.htm I've been using these books since ArcView 3.2.
  • You can have a look at the ESRI Press catalog.
    They have some very good books, both basic and advanced.
  • Not only are the ArcGIS tutorials free, they are inherent to the software. Just print out the pdf documents and work from them if you're most comfortable working from a hardcopy. It covers anything you could ever need to know, especially if you're a beginner.
Related Question