Follow up reading to the lecture on data types:

• Although Bolstad's chapter is a nice generic review, it is actually more helpful to talk specifically about the data formats that ESRI uses. Read through the following pages:
• How a GIS represents and models geographic information
• Three fundamental representations of geographic information layers
• About Geographic Data Formats
• If you want more background, skim very briefly the following from Chapter Two (Data Models) of Bolstad (2005) 
  
• pp 25-30 in detail (especially part on coordinate data)
• skim page 31 on Attribute Data
• skim pp 32-42 on Vector Data
• skim pp 42-46 on Raster Data
• skip pp 47-60 (or very quickly flip through)
• pp 61-62 in detail starting with 'Common File Formats'