ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society · 1991 · 14 citations · 1 references
Social SciencesGeographyInformation SystemsGeographic Information ScienceGeographic Information SystemsGeovisualizationDigital MappingDistributed Geographic Information SystemsGeographic Information Systems (Gis)Research Data Infrastructure
GISs are software systems that serve as essential tools for acquiring, communicating, and explaining geographic knowledge, particularly in social and behavioral sciences. The article reviews how GIS relates to other geographic information activities and discusses its future. It examines GIS importance through examples and reviews data sources, client–server architectures, Internet services, data archives, and digital libraries.
Geographic information systems (GISs) are defined as software systems. In this article, the relationships between GIS and other activities having to do with geographic information are reviewed. The use of GIS in social and behavioral sciences is discussed as an increasingly essential component of the research infrastructure and as a tool for acquiring and communicating geographic knowledge. Examples are used to discuss the importance of GIS across the social and behavioral sciences. Sources of data are reviewed, and GISs are discussed from the perspectives of client–server architectures, the Internet, Internet-based services, data archives, and digital libraries. GIS use is intimately related to the role of space in scientific explanation. The article ends with a discussion on the future of GIS.
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