Full Citation

Title: GIS, Historical Research, and Microdata

Citation Type: Book, Section

Publication Year: 2022

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Abstract: Since most census data is geographic in nature, it lends itself well to geographic analysis. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are collections of software and data for conducting geographic analyses and making maps. Special GIS data files called vector files store coordinates to form geometries that represent points, lines, and areas. Each file represents a particular type of feature that covers a specific extent: a file for counties for the US, a file of census tracts for a state, or a file of roads for a particular county. The files are georeferenced, which means they are drawn to scale using a specific spatial reference system that ties them to real locations on the earth. These reference systems allow GIS data files from multiple sources to be overlaid in a GIS project. In addition to the vector files, a different format called a raster represents continuous surfaces as a series of grid cells of equal size, where each cell has a value that represents something about the surface. Rasters are also georeferenced, and satellite imagery, air photos, and scanned paper maps such as topographic maps are stored in the raster format. For census mapping applications, rasters are useful as base maps to provide context for vectors.

Url: https://journals.ala.org/index.php/ltr/article/view/7794/10841

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Authors: Donelly, Frank

Editors:

Pages: 1-6

Volume Title: US Census Data: Concepts and Applications for Supporting Research

Publisher: alatech

Publisher Location:

Volume: 58

Edition:

Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS USA - Ancestry Full Count Data, IPUMS CPS

Topics: Land Use/Urban Organization

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