Supporting Resources

for Lecture 02: Definitions of GIS

Index of Resources:

Systems of Definitions (in general)

Formal naming systems (lots of procedure, though it varies...)

an observer's notes on the curiosities of biological naming (Marc Issak)

 

Other ways to categorize definitions

Maguire offered three kinds of definitions:

  • map view (emphasis on geographic representations, map origins)
  • database view (emphasis on information system)
  • spatial analysis view (key operations)

    • Burrough's second edition lists:

  • tool-box based (a particular set of GIS procedures)
  • database (a particular set of information in a GIS)
  • organization based (focused on participants)

    • Nyerges (1993) "Understanding the Scope of GIS: Its relationship to environmental modeling" lists:

    Getting at the words in use:

    Looking at the typical definition of GIS, the I and the S are almost taken for granted.

    System

    - a group of connected entities & activities interacting for a common purpose

  • in GIS the common purpose may be decision-making or simply maintenance of an inventory
  • key issue is the connectedness of the system through geography (location) - the focus is on the location of entities.
  • an Information System is a set of processes, executed on raw data, to produce information (which will be used in decision-making). This procedure is anti-entropic, it seems to invent something from nothing...
  • a collection of people, organized into institutions, who use codified procedures (perhaps implemented using computing hardware and software) to enhance the value of raw data through the recognition of spatial integration

    • Information -

    Information is the key buzzword of this era, but oddly taken for granted.

  • a difference that makes a difference [Bateson, a psychologist is meant to have said this first] (study of differences is measurement theory)
  • data placed in context; imposing human logic on the world.
  • data for which someone can be held accountable [Goguen];
  • not a "thing", but a relationship

    • Some sample definitions of GIS from all over

    A form of MIS [Management Information System] that allows map display of the general information. (Devine and Field 1986, p. 18)

    Marble (1984) produced a "systems flow" definition by detailing four "subsystems":

    1. A data input subsystem which collects and/or processes spatial data derived from existing maps, remote sensors, etc.
    2. A data storage and retrieval subsystem which organizes the spatial data in a form which permits it to be quickly retrieved by the user for subsequent analysis, as well as permitting rapid and accurate updates and corrections to be made to the spatial database.
    3. A data manipulation and analysis subsystem which performs a variety of tasks such as changing the form of the data through user-defined aggregation rules or producing estimates of parameters and constraints for various space-time optimization or simulation models.
    4. A data reporting subsystem which is capable of displaying all or part of the original database as well as manipulated data and the output from spatial models in tabular or map form. The creation of these map displays involves what is called digital or computer cartography. This is an area which represents a considerable conceptual expansion of traditional cartographic approaches as well as a substantial change in the tools utilized in creating the cartographic displays.

    Geographer's Craft page about GIS, scroll down to section 4 and 5

    Our UW Library Map Collection starts off with a definition.

    Marie Mills (graduate of 460 long before the textbook) includes a definition in her consulting page

    Martin Dodge (University College London, Geography of Cyberspace) his GIS definition

    Lewis County Public Works dept. (does it sounds like the ESRI definition?)

    City of Newton, North Carolina; presents a definition, lists four others (1990 or 1991)

    Las Vegas airport's GIS department has a definition right upfront

    US Army Corps of Engineers (Walla Walla)

    Bureau of Land Management (Alaska) talks about a business standard.

    In the long run, it is the definitions of the Personnel Departments that will matter, here is City of Philadelphia.

    Village of Gurnee, Illinois

    Sound similar?

    The ESRI .pdf slideshow (www.gis.com) (caution 2 Mb download)
    President Clinton's definition of "geospatial data" (Executive Order 12906,1994).

    Why a mailing list looks like a GIS:

    It assembles a set of entities with a spatial description, that is all that seems to be required by most of the definitions above. A 'ROLODEX (tm)' assembles business cards, is that a 'GIS'?

    No, because the operations you can perform on that assemblage just don't include very much of a spatial (geographic) nature. You might get all the businesses in a given zip code (hierarchy), but you would have no idea which zip codes were adjacent. Think of the operations (and transformations) you would really want, that you might do by knowing where each address was located in a particular city.

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    Version of 2 October 2001