STAR GIS for Water^TM Frequently Asked Questions

 

1. What is GIS?
2. GIS information is available on the internet for free. Why should I buy your product?
3. I installed Arc Reader on my hard drive and put my County Product in the CD drive, but it doesn't work. What is the problem?
4. I see the computer requirements on the Product Details page, but how do I find out the capabilities of my computer?
5. I’ve never used GIS software – what should I do?
6. The local roads layer does not display, even though it is turned on – any suggestions?
7. I can’t see the “Public Lands” layer even though I have it turned on and the check mark is NOT grayed-out – any suggestions?
8. The “Depth of Water Wells” layer does not display, even though I have it turned on and the check mark is NOT grayed-out, and I have zoomed in to the Visible Scale – any suggestions?
9. My computer runs slow with this software – any suggestions?
10. How do I quickly find my place, or feature, of interest?
11. Some features are not located precisely – what’s the reason for this?
12. Can I add my own data to STAR GIS for Water^TM?

• What is GIS?

GIS stands for “Geographic Information System.” A GIS is a compilation of digital maps and associated data attribute tables for the points, lines, and polygons shown on a map. The layers making up the map stack up on top of each other, with the uppermost layers lying on top of the lower layers.

• GIS information is available on the internet for free. Why should I buy your product?

For several reasons, including:

1. No internet access is required to use our products.
2. You would need to visit many internet sites to view data already compiled on our products.
3. Useful features, like meaningful labels, data organization, etc are not available elsewhere.
4. Maps can be printed, using our products, that display the exact information you want.
5. Our products can be customized (for a fee) to meet your special needs.

• I installed Arc Reader on my hard drive and put my County Product in the CD drive, but it doesn't work. What is the problem?

Our State-Wide product is packaged on CD-ROMs. Our County products are on DVD-ROMs, not CD-ROMs. If you do not have a DVD-ROM drive available, contact us about options.

• I see the computer requirements on the Product Details page, but how do I find out the capabilities of my computer?

to find out the capabilities of your computer, you can do the following:

1. Turn on your computer that has Windows 2000 (or later). Left-click on “Start,” then Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and then “System Information.”
2. Review the System Information to find the type of hardware components and operating system on the computer:
   • The Windows operating system version can be found as the “OS Name.”
   • The CPU Speed and Processor can be found under “Processor.”
   • The Memory (RAM) can be found under “Total Virtual Memory.”
   • The “Components” directory will provide information on the CD/DVD type (under “CD-ROM”), and other information can be found on the Display and Video Card

Our products are user-friendly and designed for those without a GIS background. We strongly recommend that each user follow along with our tutorial document located on the New Image CD/DVD; it is titled, “Tutorial-STAR GIS^TM Product and Arc Reader^TM.” (A copy of the tutorial is also located on this website here). This will explain most of the functions used to easily navigate our product.

 

Many layers are set to only display at scales which are meaningful. A gray-ed out check mark appears when you are at a scale that does not display the layer. To zoom-in to the scale at which the layer displays, right-click on the layer and select “Zoom to Make Visible” – then the layer will display.

 

It is likely that overlying layers are hiding the Public Lands layer, so try turning off the layers above it, such as Geologic Formations, Aquifers, etc.

 

The well data is grouped together, so you can turn all well data off at once, however, in order for any of the well data layers to display, you must have the “Water Well Data” group layer turned on.

 

Try turning off layers you don’t need, because the more layers that are turned on, the slower the software functions. This is true of any GIS software.

 

There are several ways to do this: 1) if you generally know where you’re going, you can manually zoom in to the county, then city, then roads/section; 2) if you don’t know where the place is at, you can use the find tool to locate the city name (refer to tutorial Figure 26); 3) if you know the name, or characteristics, of the feature, you can customize a search to find the feature you want (refer to tutorial Figure 27).

 

Data used in a state-wide product will never be 100% accurate for several reasons, including: digitizing precision for roads, poor locations reported to the data owner (e.g., the well is somewhere in Section 15, Twp. 2 S., Rng. 64 W.), and blank (null) values (such as no name or address reported). However, we believe you will find the New Image products very useful even though some data inaccuracies exist.

 

Our product is a read-only data package that does not allow you to add data on your own. But, New Image can give you a quote for custom services to have us add your data to our product for you… please contact us.