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Welcome to this introduction to the TIGERweb viewer.
This tool provides an efficient and easy-to-use interface
for viewing the full range of geospatial data
and geographic area information that are contained
in the TIGER database, which is the Census Bureau's
authoritative source for such information.
TIGERweb provides the ability to view the relationship
between different geographic areas, which is critical
for data users working with statistical data
at different levels of geography.
This viewer provides the ability to move quickly and easily
from viewing one area to another,
and to add additional layers for viewing as questions arise.
The availability of population counts provides additional,
detailed information that is not available
on most Census reference maps.
The data will be refreshed twice a year,
so the data user will have access
to the most current data available.
The TIGERweb viewer requires the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in.
If it is not found upon opening the application,
you will be directed to download and install the plug-in.
After opening the TIGERweb viewer, you will want to start
at the Map Content panel.
The Map Content panel shows the list
of available feature classes.
If the panel is not open, it can be opened by clicking
on the stacked-layer icon at the top of the screen.
Each feature class consists of one or more layers.
The layers available include physical features, such as roads
and water features, as well as legal
and statistical boundaries, such as blocks, block groups,
Census tracts, and Places.
Say you want to see the school districts in Connecticut.
Let's turn on the School Districts feature class.
You might notice the School Districts don't
immediately display.
This is because each feature class has a range of zoom levels
at which it will display.
In other words, visibility is scale dependent.
Currently, the navigation tool selected is "Pan", which is used
to move the map around by clicking and dragging.
With the "Pan" tool selected, you can double click somewhere
on the map and the map will zoom
in one zoom level towards that area.
Or, you can use the zoom slide-bar
on the left side of the screen.
At this point, you will notice the county boundaries are
displayed, as well as the state postal codes.
You can change the default action of the cursor by clicking
on the selection tool.
For example, this is yet another way to zoom in and out.
Now, we see the county names.
Just like the different layers, labels are also scale dependent.
So, let's zoom in on a county and look
at the school districts in that area.
Another way to zoom is by holding the shift key
and drawing a rectangle.
Now, there are a number
of differently colored boundaries showing.
Let's look at the Legend to see what they mean.
The Legend can be accessed by clicking the Legend icon
in the top right area of the screen.
The legend shows what symbology is used for each layer,
and at what zoom levels the layer is displayed.
On the map, we now see all three types
of school district boundaries.
If we want to view only certain types of school districts,
we can turn some of them off.
Notice, the symbology for a layer can also be determined
by drilling down in to the layer item in the Map Content panel.
Let's look at something different, now.
For example, let's look
at the Wichita urbanized area in Kansas.
We'll start by zooming back out to the full extent of the map.
Just click on the little globe icon above the zoom slide-bar.
Let's use the Query tool this time
to find the Urbanized Area around Wichita.
From the Select Map pulldown, select Urban Areas.
Notice, the Select Layer list box is now populated
with the two types of Urban Areas,
Urbanized Areas and Urban Clusters.
Let's look for Urbanized Areas.
And, let's search for Wichita.
Notice the query has found multiple locations,
and zoomed to an extent that shows all these locations.
We want to look at Wichita, Kansas, so let's click
on that item in the Query panel.
The map re-centers on Wichita, Kansas.
At this zoom level, the Urbanized Area is kind
of small, so let's zoom in.
Let's say we want to compare the Urbanized Area,
which is a statistical boundary, with the Place,
which is a legal boundary.
Notice the Wichita Urbanized Area is partially transparent.
This is because it is the currently selected feature.
Now we're zoomed in where we want to be,
let's close the Query panel.
Notice the Urbanized Area is no longer displayed.
When the Query panel is closed, the query results are cleared.
Let's turn on the Urban Area layers.
Some features are displayed with a solid color fill pattern.
Notice the Places that are being displayed are obscuring the
Urban Areas on the map.
Let's make it easier to see both.
In the Map Content panel, the transparency
of a feature class can be changed.
If you're interested in identifying features on the map,
you can use the Identify tool.
In the Identify Results panel, you can click on any
of the features to get attribute information.
When you mouse over a feature, it's area pulses on the map,
and when you select a feature,
it will be highlighted on the map.
Also, keep in mind the Identify tool identifies features
for only visible layers.
To get more information about the feature classes
that are available in the viewer, click the Help icon
in the upper right corner of the viewer window.
These feature classes are also available via Web Map Services
(or WMS).
So, as you can see, the TIGERweb viewer provides a quick
and easy way to view and query the Census Bureau's geospatial
data and geographic area information.
For more information, and to try out the application,
please visit the TIGERweb Viewer page on the Census website.
You can also address any questions or concerns
to geo.tigerweb@census.gov.
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