Geo325: Business Geographics
Lesson 11 ~ Creating A New Database in ArcMap

Lesson Overview: In this lesson we will create our own database from scratch, fill it with information about hospitals in Chester County, and then geocode these hospitals in ArcMap. We will also use ArcMap's ArcCatalog to helps us manage layers and files within ArcMap.

Before you begin. Create a folder on your storage disk as in previous lessons, named Lesson11 or similar. We will store our new database file and the geocoded layer we create from it in this folder.

Connect to \\Geographia. Map the folder named Work as your W: drive. Now launch ArcMap. to create a new empty map.

Part 1. Using ArcCatalog

To create a new database table, open ArcCatalog by clicking Tools -> ArcCatalog on the menu.

Create Empty Table To Hold Data

In ArcCatalog, find your lesson folder (for example, F:) in the Catalog tree. (Your flash drive might not show up in the tree; if it does not, ask a lab assistant to help you connect to the flash drive.) Navigate to the lesson folder (e.g., Lesson11) on your flash drive. Now right-click on the folder, select New, and then select dBASE Table.

A new dBASE file now appears in the folder’s contents. Give your new table a descriptive name, such as hospitals.dbf. Make sure the extension remains ".dbf." We have just created an empty table where we can store information!

Add Fields to Your Table

Now add fields to the table. We will add one field for each piece of information we want to store. Right-click the table's name in the Catalog and select Properties. Click the Fields tab. Ignore the two fields that are already there named OID and Field1. Click the first blank row in the Field Name column (under Field1) and type in the word, "Name" (no quotes). Click in the Data Type column next to your new field and select the data type, "Text." This creates a text field where we can store the hospital's name. Repeat these steps for three more fields: Address; City; and Zip. Add one more field, name it Beds and make its field type ShortInteger. We will use this field to represent the number of beds each hospital has.

Click OK when you have added all the fields.

You just now created a new database which can store data about hospitals!

Let's add this database to your map project file. Close Arc Catalog by selecting File and then Exit, on the menu. Now back in ArcMap, click on “Add Data” , navigate to your lesson folder, and add the new database file to your project file.

Enter Data Into Our New Database

We will now start adding information to this table. Right-click on your database file (in your table of contents) and select Open.

To add data to our table click Editor ( on the Editor Tool Bar, then select Start Editing. If your Editor Tool Bar is not visible, click on View on the main menu, then select Tools, then find Editor in the list and put a check in front of it.

Enter the information about the hospitals in Chester County shown below. This is not a typing class so it is certainly acceptable to copy from this web page and paste into your new table. In fact we highly recommend it.

Note: Arcmap sometimes does not save entries successfully. To insure against having to repeat your work, each time you enter one row of information (name, address, beds, etc) for one of the hospitals, go to the editor tool bar and select Save. This will write information to the disk.

Hospitals In Chester County

Brandywine Hospital
201 Reeceville Rd
Coatesville
19320
168

Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital
414 Paoli Pike
Malvern
19355
140

Chester County Hospital
701E. Marshall St.
West Chester
19380
234

Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center
1400 BlackHorse Hill Rd.
Coatesville
19320
614

Malvern Institute
940 King Rd.
Malvern
19355
50

Mapleton Psychiatric Ward
655 Sugartown Rd.
Malvern
19355
24

Paoli Memorial Hospital
255 W. Lancaster Ave.
Paoli
19301
208

Phoenixville Hospital
140 Nutt Rd
Phoenixville
19460
146

Southern Chester County Medical Center
1015 W. Baltimore Pk.
West Grove
19340
51

Once all the values have been added, select Stop Editing from the Editor toolbar. Save your edits when prompted. Your table should now look similar to the following.

Now add the Chester County Census tract layer to your project. Click on Add Data button, navigate to C:\Geo325\SpatialData and add the layer named CCTRACTS.shp

As always in ArcMap, set your data frame's projection to UTM Zone 18 as in previous lessons. If you do not set your projection before you geocode your points might end up anywhere!

Geocode the New Database

We are now ready to geocode our hospitals. Open the ArcToolbox which is located in the Main menu bar. Click on the geocoding toolbox in ArcToolbox and double-click the Geocode Addresses tool. This will open the Geocode Addresses dialog box. Under Input Table, click the drop-down and select hospitals. Under Input Address Locator, click the Browse button and then select the drop-down. Find the Centrus Geocoding Service in the list and select it. Under Output Feature Class, be sure the new layer (Output Feature Class) will be saved to your flash drive. Your window should look similar to the one below. When it does, click Ok.

Now click on the BATCH to geocode all the addresses and click Finish once the geocoding is completed. It should show that it geocoded 9 of 9.

Now that we have geocoded Chester County's hospitals we will fine-tune our map.

"Graduated symbol" means ArcMap looks at the data in the table and draws the features using proportionality. The larger the value in the data, the larger the marker symbol or the more intense the color, or the thicker the line might be on the map.

Change the symbology for the hospital layer. Rather than a dot for each hospital, let's draw a dot that increases in size as the number of hospital beds increases.

Right-click on the layer's name in the table of contents. Select Properties. Select the Symbology tab. Select Quantities, then select Graduated Symbols. For the field you will map the value on, select Beds. Then select "Template," which provides the starting point for the symbol. Choose the symbol you'd like to represent a hospital, like a colored dot. Click Ok. Arcmap then creates graduated symbols for us, with larger dots for the hospitals with the most beds.

Change the symbology for the census tracts to one that is appropriate for your map. We are mapping hospitals. Color your census tracts on the number of elderly people, a demographic group that tends to need access to hospitals. The field in the census layer that shows the number of elderly in each census tract is named AGE_65PL (ages 65 and plus).

How do the locations of the hospitals in Chester County meet the needs of the elderly? Where might you locate a medical services supply store? Where might you locate a doctor's office?

Finalize your map by adding standard items (scale, north arrow, map title, legend, your name, class and section) Print your map!