Interactive Maps Tutorial
- Learning about this Map
- Creating a Map
- Accessing the data on the Map
- Modifying the Map
- Creating a County Map
- Changing the colors of the Map
- Changing the grouping method of the Map
- Copying a Map into another Program (Saving the Map Image)
- Exporting Data from the Map
- Interpreting the Map
- Printing the Map
Learning about this Map
If you would like to read about this Map, what it contains, and where the data comes from, click on the About this Map link to the right of the selection boxes.
Creating a Map
To create a Map, follow the steps below…
- Select the data you want to display in the drop down boxes at the top of the window.
- After you've made all of the selections you want, click on the Generate Map button located under the drop down lists. The new map containing the data you just selected will appear below the data selection boxes.
- Hover the mouse over a state or county on the Map.
- The data will appear in a tooltip (this function is not available for a county Map of the entire United States).
- The data table will appear in a new browser window that includes the values of the states or counties shown on the Map.
- Click on the Make Table button located above the Map to view this table.
- Creating a new Map by scrolling to the top of the web page and changing the selections in the list boxes.
- Clicking on a state to see the counties of that state.
- When creating a new Map, select the state for the counties that you would like to see. A Map of that state will be created.
- Click on a specific state with the mouse, and a Map of that state will be created.
- Save the Map Image to a file by clicking the Save Map Image button. Then load that file into your other software program.
- Right click on the map with your mouse.
- Select Copy from the pop-up menu.
- Open the destination program (e.g., PowerPoint, Word, Word Perfect).
- Select Paste from the File menu, press Ctrl-V, or right click and select Paste from the pop-up menu.
- Click on the Interpret link located to the left of the Map.
- The text description will appear in a new browser window.
Accessing the Data on the Map
Once you have created a Map, you can view the data that was used to generate the Map. Use one of the following procedures to view this data…
Accessing the data through the Map
Accessing through the data table icon
Modifying the Map
You can modify the Map by either:
Creating a County Map
You can create a county Map by using one of the following methods.
Changing the Colors of the Map
After creating an initial Map, you can go to the Color Scheme list box at the top of the page to change the color scheme. The Red-Orange-White color scheme is good for black and white printing. The color schemes are explained here.
Changing the grouping method of the Map
After creating an initial Map, you can go to the Interval Type list box at the top of the page to change the grouping method. The interval types are explained here.
Copying aMap into another Program (Saving the Map Image)
Use one of the following methods to copy the map image…
Or...
Exporting Data from the Map
To export the data on a table to be used in Excel, SAS, or another program, click on the Export Data button located above the Map and follow the instructions on screen.
Interpreting the Map
A text description has been provided to assist in understanding the Map. Use the following procedure to access this text description.
Printing the Map
If you select Print within your browser or press the print button, the printed result will be just the table, graph or map without the selection controls on the page.