Click to see full-size exampleLast week in the User Conference, I did a demo for a few people.  To a person, they were delighted to see what was possible.  If you've got ArcMap 9.3 and a few minutes, do the following:

  1. Start ArcMap with a new empty map.
  2. Go to http://resources.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/
  3. Click on the Content tab. 
  4. Immediately below on the Content tab, click on the Layers tab.
  5. Click the World Imagery layer and follow your browsers prompts to open the layer file. A little window will display saying that the layer is being opened and then that it is being sent to ArcMap
  6. Back in your browser, click on the U.S. Topo Maps layer.
  7. Zoom in to someplace in the U.S.  (1:24,000 is a good scale)
  8. In ArcMap open the Effects toolbar and click on the Swipe Layer tool.
  9. If needed, from the Layer dropdown menu, select the layer that appears at the top of the Table of Contents.
  10. Note the orientation of your cursor and swipe the map.

Some might ask: why is this good to know? By following the steps above, you can see how easy it is to add ArcGIS Online content to an ArcMap document.  If you ever have to research the details of the place, and if you're still reading, it's fair to say you'd rather do so with a map, this is good technique.

Learn more about ArcGIS Online