Location Intelligence Analyst
March 29, 2024
Updated May 12, 2025
17 minute read
Location intelligence analysis is a rapidly evolving field that involves deriving meaningful insights from geospatial data. At its core, it's about understanding the "where" of data, layering various information types like demographics, traffic patterns, and environmental factors onto maps or dashboards to reveal patterns and trends. This allows businesses and governments to make more informed decisions, from selecting optimal retail sites to planning emergency responses. The power of location intelligence lies in its ability to transform raw data into actionable strategies by providing a geographic context to information. Many find the prospect of using data to solve real-world spatial challenges and influence significant business and policy decisions to be an engaging and exciting aspect of this career.
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Find a path to becoming a Location Intelligence Analyst. Learn more at:
OpenCourser.com/career/y6exac/location
Reading list
We've selected some books
that we think will supplement your
learning. Use these to
develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a
deeper understanding of the topics covered in
Location Intelligence Analyst.
A comprehensive textbook on GIS and spatial science, covering topics such as data models, spatial analysis, and applications in various fields.
Comprehensive guide to OpenLayers development. It covers topics such as map creation, layer management, data visualization, and event handling. This book is recommended for developers who want to become experts in OpenLayers.
Is widely regarded as the definitive guide to PostGIS. It provides a comprehensive introduction to spatial databases and covers vector, raster, and topology spatial types and functions. It is an excellent resource for gaining a broad understanding and is frequently used as a reference by both students and professionals. This edition is updated to cover recent PostGIS and PostgreSQL features, making it highly relevant for contemporary topics.
Published recently, this book focuses specifically on Spatial SQL, which is the core language for interacting with PostGIS. It's highly relevant for anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of querying and manipulating spatial data within a database context. While not solely about PostGIS, its direct relevance to the practical application of spatial databases makes it a valuable resource for all levels.
For those interested in the practical application of geocoding and spatial analysis using programming, this book must-read. It focuses on using Python with various GIS tools and libraries. This is highly relevant for contemporary geocoding workflows, especially for automating tasks and integrating with other systems.
This hands-on tutorial is designed for learning ArcGIS Pro, a widely used GIS software with geocoding capabilities. It provides step-by-step exercises for performing various GIS tasks, including geocoding location data. This practical book for gaining direct experience with geocoding in a professional software environment.
Offers a thorough overview of both the theoretical basis and practical application of GIS. It delves into how real-world data is converted into digital form and the analytical capabilities of GIS, providing a deeper understanding of the context in which geocoding operates. It's a valuable resource for students serious about mastering the subject beyond the basics.
Aims to help users master the full range of PostGIS functionalities, from data management to analysis and integration with web technologies. It covers modern approaches to working with spatial data in PostGIS and is suitable for developers and analysts.
A comprehensive and authoritative text covering the breadth of GIScience, this book provides in-depth coverage of fundamental concepts, techniques, and applications. It is an excellent resource for gaining a deep theoretical understanding of the field that encompasses geocoding and advanced spatial analysis.
A practical guide to geocomputation using R, covering topics such as spatial data handling, analysis, and visualization.
Geocoding relies heavily on efficient storage and retrieval of spatial data. provides an in-depth look at spatial database management, including data models, algorithms, and indexing methods. It's a crucial reference for understanding the technical underpinnings of managing the large datasets used in geocoding and spatial analysis.
Geocoding is often a preliminary step to spatial analysis. provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles, techniques, and software tools for analyzing geographic data. It helps deepen the understanding of what can be done with geocoded data and the analytical methods that follow the geocoding process.
Takes a computer science perspective on GIS, focusing on the computational aspects of spatial data handling and analysis. It delves into data structures, algorithms, and computational geometry relevant to GIS operations, providing a deeper technical understanding of the processes involved in geocoding and spatial data processing.
Data quality is paramount in geocoding, as the accuracy of results depends heavily on the quality of input addresses and reference data. provides a comprehensive guide to data quality management principles and practices. It's essential for understanding the challenges and techniques for ensuring reliable geocoding outputs.
This edition of the PostGIS Cookbook is specifically aimed at web developers and software architects, highlighting the use of PostGIS in web applications. It's a practical guide with recipes relevant to integrating PostGIS into a web development workflow.
This book, from a leading GIS software provider, focuses on using GIS for geographic analysis. It provides practical guidance on identifying patterns and relationships in spatial data, which often originates from geocoding. It serves as a good resource for understanding the applications of geocoded data in real-world scenarios.
Discusses the use of OpenLayers and other web technologies for sharing, visualizing, and analyzing geospatial data.
Delves into the theory and practice of spatial data science, covering topics such as spatial data types, operations, and statistical analysis. It provides a rigorous treatment of the concepts underlying the analysis of spatial data, which is essential for a deep understanding of geocoding and its implications for spatial analysis.
While focused on R instead of Python, this book provides a comprehensive guide to performing geographic data analysis using programming. Many of the concepts and techniques for handling spatial data and performing analysis are transferable and relevant to understanding the computational aspects of geocoding and subsequent analysis.
A specialized book on spatial data analysis in ecology and agriculture, covering topics such as geostatistics, kriging, and species distribution modeling.
A specialized book on spatial data mining, covering topics such as clustering, classification, and anomaly detection in spatial data.
Specifically addresses the techniques of satellite geocoding and the use of geocoded satellite data in GIS. While an older publication, it provides foundational knowledge on the geocoding process from a remote sensing perspective and discusses algorithms for extracting information from geocoded imagery. It's a valuable reference for understanding the origins and technical aspects of certain geocoding methods.
This course title clearly outlines an introduction to spatial databases using PostGIS and QGIS. Books that cover the basics of spatial database concepts, how to set up and use PostGIS, and how to connect and visualize PostGIS data in QGIS would be ideal for beginners and those new to spatial databases. It emphasizes foundational knowledge.
The second edition of the widely acclaimed 'PostGIS in Action'. While superseded by the third edition in terms of the latest PostGIS features, this book is still a valuable resource for understanding the core concepts and capabilities of PostGIS up to versions 2.x. It can be useful as supplementary reading or a more affordable option for gaining a solid foundation.
Another foundational book on spatial databases, this text provides a theoretical and technical deep dive into the subject. It covers spatial data models, query languages, and indexing techniques. While published earlier, it offers a strong academic perspective valuable for graduate students and researchers.
This guide provides practical advice and best practices for implementing and managing GIS projects. It touches upon data management and quality issues, which are directly relevant to ensuring effective and accurate geocoding processes within an organization. It useful resource for professionals involved in managing GIS operations.
This course title points to the use of PostGIS as a backend for web mapping applications. Books that explain how to integrate PostGIS with web development frameworks, serve spatial data to the web, and build interactive web maps would be highly relevant. Understanding PostGIS's role in a web architecture is crucial.
This course title indicates a focus on using spatial data for scientific analysis and applications, an area where PostGIS foundational tool for data storage and initial processing. Books that cover spatial statistics, data mining, and the use of PostGIS in conjunction with programming languages like Python or R for spatial data science would be valuable for this audience.
This course title suggests a focus on building enterprise-level GIS solutions using open source tools, specifically PostgreSQL and PostGIS. Books that cover advanced PostGIS features, integration with other open-source GIS tools, and database administration for large datasets would be highly relevant. Understanding how PostGIS scales and performs in an enterprise environment is key.
While not a specific book recommendation, the title of this course highlights the importance of Spatial SQL and its application with PostgreSQL/PostGIS. Books focusing on Spatial SQL and practical exercises with PostGIS would align well with the objectives of this type of course, providing hands-on learning opportunities.
This cookbook focuses on the administration of PostgreSQL, including topics like backup, recovery, and monitoring, which are essential for managing a PostGIS database in a production environment. It's a valuable reference for database administrators working with PostGIS.
Provides a guide to learning PostgreSQL. As PostGIS is an extension, having a solid understanding of the underlying database system is very helpful. This book would be useful for those new to PostgreSQL who plan to use PostGIS.
While focused on GRASS GIS, another prominent open-source GIS software, this book provides valuable context on the broader open-source GIS ecosystem. Understanding other open-source tools can be beneficial when working with PostGIS, as they often integrate. offers a broader perspective on open-source spatial data handling.
This open-access web-based textbook provides a general introduction to GIS concepts. While not specific to PostGIS, it offers foundational knowledge in GIS that is essential before diving into a spatial database like PostGIS. It's a good resource for beginners to understand the broader context of spatial data and analysis.
For more information about how these books relate to this course, visit:
OpenCourser.com/career/y6exac/location
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