Help On Your Own    Personal Assistance    Instructor Led Training    Ongoing Learning

Help On Your Own

• ArcGIS Help System - Launch from your desktop ArcGIS software
  
  
• Notes and lab materials from GIS coursework
  
  
• Idaho State University's GIS "FAQ Help"
  http://giscenter.isu.edu/help/index.htm
  
  
• GIS training books available from the Montana State Library
  http://www.magip.org/Resources/Documents/MTStateLibrary_GISTraining.pdf
  
  
• National Academies Press
  http://www.nap.edu/about.html
  
  
• URISA Books and Resources
  http://www.urisa.org/books
  
  
• ESRI Education Resources (you may need to create a free ESRI Global Account username and password to access some resources):
  
  • ESRI GIS Glossary
    http://resources.arcgis.com/glossary
  • ESRI ArcGIS 10 Desktop Tips and Shortcuts
    http://www.esri.com/library/brochures/pdfs/arcgis-desktop-tips.pdf
    
  • ESRI Press Books (i.e.: Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop; GIS Tutorials)
    http://esripress.esri.com/display/index.cfm
    
  •  ESRI "TV" on Youtube
    http://www.youtube.com/esritv
    
  • ESRI Virtual Campus Training Seminars (free)       
    Live: http://training.esri.com/campus/seminars/index.cfm
    Recorded: http://training.esri.com/campus/seminars/recordings.cfm
  • ESRI Virtual Campus Web Courses (some free, most with a nominal fee) 
    http://training.esri.com/gateway/index.cfm?fa=search.results&cannedsearch=8
  • ESRI Instructional Series Podcasts (free)
    http://www.esri.com/news/podcasts/instructional_series.html
  • ESRI Support (knowledge base, forums, known issues, documentation, and much, much more)
    http://support.esri.com/en
  • ESRI Training Matters Blog
    http://blogs.esri.com/Support/blogs/esritrainingmatters/
  • ESRI News (ESRI Publications (ArcNews, ArcUser, Newsletters, etc.)
    http://www.esri.com/news/index.html

Personal Assistance

• Contact a colleague with whom you have established a rapport
  
  
• Attend a MAGIP User Group meeting in your area - open to the public
  http://www.magip.org/UserGroups
  
  
• Request free membership to the MAGIP listserve
  (http://www.magip.org/ListServe) then send a question to the listserve (magip@lists.mt.gov)
  
  
• Start a Discussion Topic using a MAGIP Discussion Forum - Must be a MAGIP member to start and/or reply to a Discussion Topic, reviewing is open to everyone
  http://www.magip.org/Forums
  
  
• Find a GIS Mentor (project/task focused or long term)
  (http://www.magip.org/Mentoring). Mentors and Mentees must be members of MAGIP

• Discussion Forums outside MAGIP:
  
  • ESRI
    http://resources.arcgis.com/content/listserve
  • AutoDesk
    http://forums.autodesk.com/#
  • MapWindow GIS:
    http://www.mapwindow.org/phorum/
  • MapInfo:
    http://community.mapinfo.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=104   

Instructor Led Training

• Intermountain GIS Conference - Annually in spring; hosted by MAGIP in Montana in even numbered years; hosted by the Northern Rockies chapter of URISA in Idaho in odd numbered years (http://www.magip.org/Intermountain)
  
  
• MAGIP Fall Technical Session - Annual in fall, location varies
  (http://www.magip.org/TechSession)
  
  
• MAGIP Spring Technical Session - Spring of odd numbered years; Held in Eastern Montana
  
  
• Northern Rockies Chapter of URISA (Urban and Regional Information Systems Association) - Hayden, Idaho (http://www.urisa.org/workshops)
  
  
• Higher education coursework in Montana and Idaho:
  
  • Montana State University (Bozeman)
    http://www.montana.edu/wwwes/programs/options.htm#gis
  • University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation (Missoula)
    http://www.cfc.umt.edu/giscertificate/
  • Carroll College (Helena)
    http://www.carroll.edu/academics/cs/gis/index.cc
  • Idaho State University GIS Training and Research Center
    http://giscenter.isu.edu/
    
    
• GIS Training Companies in or near Montana:
  
  • GeoEssentials
    http://www.geoessentials.com/
  • Kessler GIS
    http://kesslergis.com/educationtraining.html
  • Geodata Services, Inc.
    http://geodatawiki.com/default.aspx
  • Know GIS (Global Positions LLC)
    http://www.globalpositions.com/knowgis.html
    
    

• ESRI Training
  • ESRI Instructor-Led Courses (at training centers across the nation)
    http://training.esri.com/gateway/index.cfm?fa=catalog.gateway&tab=2
  • ESRI Instructor-Led Virtual Courses (Virtual Classroom)
    http://training.esri.com/gateway/index.cfm?fa=ilt.search&cannedsearch=7
  • ESRI International User Conference
    http://www.esri.com/events/index.html

• Attend User Group meetings in your area (http://www.magip.org/UserGroups)
  
  
• Subscribe to each MAGIP Discussion Forum to get notices about new topics and replies when they are posted (http://www.magip.org/Forums)
  
  
• Read incoming MAGIP listserve message content.
  
  
• Download the MAGIP Vector Newsletter (http://www.magip.org/Vector)
  
  
• Create a training plan and take courses using ESRI resources ("My Training")
  http://training.esri.com/gateway/index.cfm
  
  
• Subscribe to any number of ESRI publications - electronic or paper - including news about training: http://www.esri.com/publications/apps/newsletters/pub_form.cfm
  
  
• Subscribe to a free newsletter from GIS User http://www.gisuser.com
  
  
• Subscribe to a free newsletter from Directions Magazine http://www.directionsmag.com/