Another of DataPlace's powerful tools is thematic mapping. This
tool lets you display the variations in a particular data
indicator over a specific geographic area through a customized,
colorful, ready-to-print map. To start, click on the "Maps" link
at the top of the DataPlace home page.
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You can quickly pan by left-clicking on the map and holding as
you drag the map in any direction. Or, you can click on the
directional bars at the edge of the map pane to pan. As you pan,
DataPlace uses caching to quickly refresh the map image.
You can zoom in or out by double-clicking on the map or by using
the slider in the upper left corner of the map.
You can re-center the map by double-clicking on a location that
appears on the map. Another way to re-center on a location is by
searching for it via the search box or the "Browse Places" link
at the top of the page.
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To the right of the map, the yellow box labeled "Choose data to
show" provides several options for selecting an indicator to
display.
- My Indicators: If you're a registered DataPlace user and are
logged in to the site, this link displays the indicators you
have saved in your My DataPlace area. Click on the "add" link to
the left of an indicator label to display it on the map.
- Popular: This link displays the five most popular
indicators on DataPlace.
- Browse All: Type a key word -- such as "poverty" or
"subprime" -- in the search box and hit Search to see all the
indicators that contain the search term. You can refine your
search by adding other key words or removing search terms by
clicking
- Recently Used: This link displays the indicators that you've
previously selected in your current DataPlace session.
- Topic or Source: These links let you browse all the
indicators on DataPlace by specific topics or data sources, with
links to subcategories.
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| Using and altering the legend | |
- Metadata information. If you click on the blue "i" icon, you
will see a variety of metadata related to the data set you have
chosen.
- Glossary definitions. Key terms in the indicator
description are underlined. If you mouse over an underlined
term, a pop-up box shows a short definition of the term.
Clicking on the term pops up the full glossary entry.
- Data intervals. The data for the selected indicator
are displayed according a certain number of intervals. For most
indicators, the default number is eight. To change the number of
intervals or ranges, click the drop-down arrow below the chart
showing the ranges for your selected indicator.
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Clicking the question-mark icon above the zoom slider activates
an "identify" function that allows you to see data for a
particular area on the map when you click on the area.
In the example, the poverty rate for the particular
census tract is compared with that of the county, state, and
nation.
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| Changing the appearance of a map | |
You can change the range of colors to represent data on the map
by clicking on the drop-down arrow to the right of the color
scale, which appears below the legend. Another way to change the
colors is to click on the "Change map colors + layers" link,
just above the yellow data box. This link also lets you change
the geographic features (e.g., parks, streets, bodies of water,
etc.) to be displayed on the map.
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To print or save a PDF version of a map, click on the "Print
this map" link above the legend. A new window will display your
map in PDF format, ready for printing.
If you're a registered DataPlace user and are logged in to the
site, you can save a map to your My DataPlace area and access it
whenever you want. Click on the "Save this map" link above the
legend.
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 Available Help Pages
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