CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Digital
Geography

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

When you are finished with this chapter you should be able to:

1. Provide a complete definition of geographic information systems (GIS).

2. Explain why the definition of GIS as merely a software system is incomplete.
3. Explain the parallels between the evolution of geographic thought and the
advent of GIS.
4. Explain the initial impetus for the development of GIS.
5. Describe some of the difficulties encountered during the early development
of GIS.
6. Describe the relationships among a GIS, computer-assisted cartography
(CAC), and computer-assisted drafting (CAD).
7. Describe some basic analytical capabilities of a modern GIS.
8. Suggest possible users of a GIS and how it might benefit them.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEFINED

While many consider geographic information systems (GIS) to be software

programs that manipulate spatial data, this definition is very restrictive. As
the name implies, geographic information systems are systems designed to
input, store, edit, retrieve, analyze, and output geographic data and information
(DeMers 2005). Like all systems (e.g., ecosystems, digestive systems, ventilation
systems, etc.), the GIS is composed of an orchestrated set of parts that allow it
to perform its many interrelated tasks. These parts include computer hardware

19
20 Chapter 1 • Introduction to Digital Geography

and software, space and organizations within which these reside, personnel
who use the system in a number of levels and capacities, data and information
upon which the system operates, clients who obtain and use the products,
vendors who supply the hardware and software, and other systems (financial,
institutional, and legal) within which the GIS functions (Figure 1.1). While the
software component of GIS is most often what we think of when we hear the
term, its scope is far bigger and more comprehensive than that. Initially we will
focus our discussion on the computer programs themselves—the technology
component—and revisit the other components later in this book as appropriate.
The primary task of a GIS is to analyze spatially referenced data and infor-
mation. To perform meaningful analysis requires that the software be able to
perform many other tasks, such as input, editing, retrieval, and output. Still,
analysis is the strength of GIS. There are many ways of classifying the analytical
and modeling capabilities of GIS because many of these capabilities interact.
Ultimately, the software most certainly contains algorithms and computer code
specifically designed to (1) organize geographic data within appropriate refer-
encing systems, (2) selectively query those data and aggregate them for easy
understanding, (3) count and measure both individual objects and collections
of objects, (4) classify and reclassify objects based on user specified properties,
(5) overlay related thematic map data, and ultimately (6) be able to combine
these individual techniques into ordered sequences of operations designed to
simulate some natural or anthropogenic activities for decision making. All of
these tasks tend to involve, either directly or indirectly, some form of mapped
data.
To understand how this works, imagine how you currently read, analyze, and
interpret the analog equivalent of GIS—maps. Many first-time GIS students, even
those who do not regularly refer to maps, are surprised when they discover
that they are already GIS practitioners when using road maps to find routes
from one place to another. This activity requires us to select portions of the
road map for analysis (query), to find the shortest route from place to place
(measurement), and to mark that route with a highlighter pen (classification).
We use a special-purpose digital GIS when we use online map services such

Figure 1.1 The multiple nature of

geographic information systems.
 Geographic Information Systems Defined 21

Figure 1.2 MapQuest output for a query showing direc-

tions from Las Cruces, NM to Tucson, AZ. Most people
who use this service are unaware that they are actually
using a rudimentary GIS.

as MapQuest to perform this same task for us (Figure 1.2). Some of us have
onboard global positioning system (GPS)/GIS components in our automobiles
such as OnStar (Figure 1.3) that not only tell us where we are and give
us routing information, but also connect us to emergency services through
wireless telecommunication. Both of these examples deal with the movement
along networks and demonstrate relatively simple applications of the existing
technology.
We become more sophisticated in our GIS skill set when we begin looking
for places to buy or build a home. Whether we directly employ maps or
not we most certainly employ what geographers call mental maps (mental
perceptions of our spatial environment) when we do this. To perform this
task we frequently develop spatial queries by defining the criteria we employ
in selecting our candidate locations. For example, we may tell a real estate
agent that we wish to buy a home that is in a new development (a query of
our geographic data), costs less than $150,000 (another query), ‘‘near’’ our
workplace (a measurement combined with a query), and within a particular
school district (a form of overlay that we will later call point-in-polygon). These
operations can readily be implemented by a digital GIS and are commonplace
within commercial GIS software. Some real estate firms already employ GIS
on a regular basis. So from these simple illustrations you can see that you
already possess some of the skills necessary to perform GIS analysis. You
only need to expand your concept of how space can be examined, measured,
and compared, and then envision how the geographic objects you wish to
examine might be encoded (input), stored, retrieved, and manipulated inside
the computer.
The last example illustrates the analytical power of the GIS. Some people
believe, for example, that there is no difference between computer-assisted
cartography (CAC), computer aided drafting (CAD), and GIS. Because the
graphic display from these three systems can look identical to both casual and
trained observers, it is easy to assume that they are, with minor differences,
the same thing. Anyone attempting to analyze maps will discover, however,
that CAC systems, computer systems designed to create maps from graphical
objects combined with descriptive attributes, are excellent for display but
22 Chapter 1 • Introduction to Digital Geography

How OnStar Works

1
A GPS receiver in the vehicle
picks up signals from Global
Positioning System (GPS)
satellites and calculates the
location of the vehicle. That
location information is stored
in the vehicle’s OnStar
hardware.

2
When the driver pushes the
blue OnStar button, red
Emergency button, or an air
bag deploys, OnStar places an
embedded cellular call to the
OnStar Center. Vehicle and
GPS location data is sent at
the beginning of the call.

3
The cellular call is received by
a cellular tower and routed to
the land line phone system.

4
The OnStar switch sends the
call to the first available
advisor, who has the location
of the vehicle and the
customer’s information on
her computer screen.

@2006 HowStuffWorks
Figure 1.3 OnStar system at work.

generally lack the analytical capabilities of a GIS. Likewise, for pure mapping
purposes it is highly desirable to use a CAC system developed specifically for
the input, design, and output of mappable data rather than working through
the myriad analytics of the GIS to produce a simple map. CAD—a computer
system developed to produce graphic images but not normally tied to external
descriptive data files—is excellent software for architects, speeding the process
of producing architectural drawings and simplifying the editing process. It
would not be as easy to use for producing maps as would CAC, nor would
it be capable of analyzing maps—generally the primary task assigned to the
GIS (Cowen, 1988). As each of these three technologies matures, however, we
are finding a large crossover of techniques and capabilities, thus blurring the
definitional lines among them.
 A Brief History of Geographic Information Systems 23

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Geographic information systems are the result of over twenty-five hundred

years of geographic research and exploration. As such, they reflect the culmina-
tion of that evolutionary process from exploration to description to explanation
and finally prediction. The earliest stage of geographic thought was relatively
simple, focusing on exploration of unknown lands, their inhabitants, and other
phenomena. Its primary outcome was one of discovery. Later, as writing and
graphic tools became available, the geographer’s craft began to systematically
describe the observed lands, people, and other objects. Among the most pow-
erful of such descriptions involved the preparation of maps showing not just
locations but, eventually, distributions of phenomena. This phase led to the
need to explain what these distributions might mean. Geographers began to
look for both natural and anthropogenic explanations for different types of
distributions. A natural outcome of pattern explanation was that of predicting
new distributions based on those explanations and, ultimately, to exploit those
predictions for planning. It is this need to exploit our knowledge of our resources
for planning and management that led to the eventual development of what is
now known as GIS. The following situation closely parallels the evolution of
geographic thought and demonstrates how this process ultimately led to the
development of the GIS toolkit.
In the early 1960s the Department of Forestry and Rural Development of
Canada decided to pursue a large-scale project to manage the resources for
much of their territory (Tomlinson, 1984). Among the initial tasks was the inven-
tory (exploration and discovery) and mapping (description) of the available forest
and mineral resources, wildlife habitat requirements, and water availability and
quality to list just a few. The inventory was meant as a first step in a larger
endeavor to compare the maps to each other to explain their patterns and finally
to predict the longevity of the resource base. The goal of this proposal was
to develop a management strategy to ensure the long-term availability of both
renewable and nonrenewable resources without damaging the environment.
The mission just outlined was a daunting one, requiring enormous amounts
of data gathering, compilation, evaluation, analysis, and modeling. Yet this is
often the very task that faces natural resource managers. Immediately it became
obvious that maps of the resources would permit viewing the extent, quality,
and current rate of use at a single glance. The manual production of such very
helpful maps covering an entire country, especially a large one, would call
for the employment of perhaps hundreds of cartographers and considerable
amounts of time and money. Many of you are painfully aware of the limited
coverage and variable quality of topographic, vegetation, and soil maps for your
own region or nation. Depending on the size of your area, it is entirely possible
that long before such a task is completed the resources themselves will have
disappeared, leaving the environment despoiled and the local residents up in
arms.
A chance meeting between Roger Tomlinson, the director of the Department
of Forestry and Rural Development, and an IBM executive resulted in a sug-
gested application of the emerging computer technology to the problem. What
was needed was a GIS for Canada. Thus the then newly instituted Regional Plan-
ning Information Systems Division, funded by the Canadian government, was
24 Chapter 1 • Introduction to Digital Geography

assigned to produce what was to become the first fully operational geographic
information system ever built—the Canada Geographic Information System
(CGIS). Its initial task was to classify and map the land resources of Canada,
but more advanced uses were envisioned as these maps became available for
analysis.
Before any of this could be accomplished there were substantial hurdles that
needed to be negotiated. Because Canada encompasses such a large area of
land, the first problem the CGIS developers encountered was how to input such
vast amounts of data into the computer without using clear plastic grids and
cell-by-cell input. This required the refinement of the rather crude digitizers of
the day to a large (48′′ × 48′′ ) pencil-following cartographic digitizing table to
input point data. At the same time a large format (48′′ × 48′′ ) cartographic-quality
drum scanner was also invented to replace manual line tracing. In tandem
with the development of the digitizer, and because graphic displays were not
available, Tomlinson’s team was forced to developed computational versions
of topology—a branch of mathematics dealing with spatial properties and
their conditions upon deformation—to detect input errors (e.g., closure of
polygons).
Related to the large data volume problem was the limitation of the computers
available in the early 1960s. In 1962 neither laptop nor desktop computers
existed. Moreover, even the largest mainframe computers had very little core
memory (kilobytes, not megabytes nor gigabytes). The IBM 1401, for example,
had 16K of memory and the 1964 IBM 360/65 had 512K of core memory. There
was no such thing as random access memory (RAM), so all the data had to
be kept on tape. Imagine trying to build a geographic information system with
a computer that has less core memory than one of today’s simplest hand
calculators. A simple text file with the three characters Hi. would take up nearly
1/3 of the core memory of most computers of the time (Figure 1.4). One major
solution to the memory limitation was the development of the Morton Matrix,

Figure 1.4 Screen capture shows how a tiny Microsoft

Word document with only the three characters Hi. takes up
24K of memory—more than the total core memory of the
IBM 1401 computer used to create the first GIS.
 GIS as a Growth Industry 25

the first of today’s facet or tile data structures. It provided a method of splitting
up the database into small portions called tiles (Guy Morton’s idea). This ‘‘tiling’’
approach to dividing large spatial databases into manageable portions is still
used today.
A third major problem needing a solution was that of finding a way to
store and to link the locational data (points, lines, and polygons) with their
nonspatial descriptions—a storage and editing problem. On analog maps this
is done through the legend, a graphical device interpreted by the map reader,
but the computer required that these be explicitly defined and linked. The
spatial database management system that was developed was called a retrieval
monitor and consisted of two separate databases—one for the locational
data and one for the descriptions—linked by software pointers. The retrieval
monitor also contained a language structure that allowed users to reclassify
attribute data, dissolve lines, merge polygons, measure cartographic objects,
change scale, generate circles, generate new polygons, search attributes, create
lists and reports, and carry out polygon overlay operations. This was the
essence of the analytical portion of a GIS and is still the core of modern GIS
software.
One additional problem to overcome was the need to build a complex
spatial software package using (pre-PL1) computer languages that were not
designed for graphics or for the complex nature of geographic data. More-
over, nearly all the programmers at that time either worked for computer
companies or for very centralized governmental service bureaus. None of
these programmers were trained in digital spatial data handling. This required
rethinking the training of computer scientists to understand the nature of
spatial (geographic) data and the training of geographers in computer
science.

GIS AS A GROWTH INDUSTRY

As with the Regional Planning Information Systems Division in 1960s Canada,

today there is an ever increasing recognition of the need to perform large-scale
mapping and map analysis operations for a wide variety of traditionally man-
ual tasks. Foresters wanting to keep an up-to-date inventory of their timber
resources see GIS as an efficient management tool for their day-to-day opera-
tions. Fire departments need GIS to enhance their routing capabilities to ensure
rapid response in emergencies. The military uses GIS to determine appropri-
ate battle plans and to organize troop movements. Cellular phone companies,
wanting to provide the best service for a mobile customer base, employ GIS to
site their transmission towers to avoid conflicts with neighbors and while still
allowing clear line-of-sight for signal transmission. Local governments employ
GIS to develop growth and development plans and to modify zoning regulations
to account for increasing population pressures. Businesses are using GIS to
market products and even to develop mailing lists based on selected spatial
criteria. Real estate companies are using GIS to isolate available housing on
the basis of customer criteria such as proximity to schools, type of neighbor-
hood, or access to highways. Police departments are currently using GIS to
compile information to characterize the movements and operational settings of
26 Chapter 1 • Introduction to Digital Geography

suspected serial killers. Academic disciplines such as geography, biology, geol-

ogy, landscape architecture, range science, and wildlife management now have
the capability to employ the technology to develop and test hypotheses con-
cerning patterns of natural phenomena on the earth. Even social science and
scientific researchers are increasingly adopting GIS technology, although their
numbers are small by comparison with many other groups. The potential users
of GIS are nearly limitless, and their types and numbers are growing at a
logarithmic pace.
This growth is indicative of the nature of GIS as an empowering technology.
It is not unlike the development of the printing press, the creation of the first
telephone, the replacement of the horse and buggy with the automobile, or
the introduction of the first computer. All these innovations had a profound
impact on the way in which we communicated, the way we moved from place
to place, and the way we solved problems—even on the nature of the problems
we solved. Modern GIS enhanced the utility of the map by replacing a single
map with a large number of interrelated thematic maps. These maps could be
automatically analyzed, and their themes combined to give meaningful answers
for decision makers. GIS has changed the way we do things with maps, the way
we think about geographic information, even the way in which geographic data
are collected and compiled. Tasks that were impossible with traditional maps
are now commonplace.
A decade or more ago, market trends for GIS and related technology indicated
that it would be a major growth industry, far outstripping many others, even
during recession years (U.S. News & World Report, 1995). In early 2004, Directions
Magazine estimated that there would be over $2 billion in GIS software sales
alone by the end of that year, with additional billions spent for services, hard-
ware, and related activities (www.directionsmag.com/press.releases/?duty=
Show&id=10412; accessed 6/20/06). As more organizations become dependent
on GIS, the need to become familiar with its basic principles will grow as well.
There will also be an increase in the demand for people knowledgeable about
the concepts behind the technology. We will examine these concepts here, with
an aim toward understanding how spatial phenomena can be manipulated and
how the technology can help us in an increasingly complex world.

SAMPLE APPLICATION AREAS OF GIS

Whether we think of GIS as software or not, its primary purpose is the organiza-
tion and analysis of spatially referenced (usually geographical) data. The utility
of GIS to solve real-world geographical problems and to provide long-term return
on investment has contributed to its continued growth and increasing popu-
larity. Some general areas of endeavor for which GIS is useful include natural
resources management; city, regional, and environmental planning; transporta-
tion planning; crime analysis; emergency services; and site selection to name
just a few.
You have already seen some examples of the specific types of problems for
which the technology is currently applied. While at first it might seem unnec-
essary to identify specific examples of problems, I have found that the more
examples I encounter, the more possibilities I can imagine. These possibilities
 Sample Application Areas of GIS 27

Figure 1.5 A satellite image from Operation

Iraqi Freedom focusing on the tactical appli-
cation of 3-D representation of imagery
(www.geospatial-online.com/geospatialsolutions/
article/articleDetail.jsp?id=56052; last accessed
August 20, 2006). The satellite image was collected
on April 1, 2003. It is a 0.9 meter resolution Dig-
italGlobe image and shows the parade grounds
in central Baghdad with the Hands of Victory
monument, in the form of two crossed swords
(lower center), marking the entrances. The image
reveals the billowing smoke plume from a burning
oil trench. The structure on the right of the smoke
is the Monument of the Unknown Soldier.

often result in pushing the technology even further so that the tool improves to
meet these new demands.
Take, for example, the burgeoning use of GIS and remote sensing technologies
in the defense industry. During ‘‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’’ in 2003–4, many of
us saw three-dimensional images of urban areas in Baghdad and other Iraqi
cities, both as static pictures (Figure 1.5) and as dynamic ‘‘flythroughs.’’ Not
only was the general public able to view these images in extreme detail on
their television sets as the news media tried to explain tactical details of
operations, but the U.S. Congress saw them as well. Within months of these
images appearing on the evening news, the U.S. federal agency then known
as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) was ordered to change
its name to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to more closely
reflect its increasing use of GIS and remote-sensing technologies in the defense
and intelligence missions.
Prior to that, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 on the World
Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the thwarted attack on Washington D.C.
brought about new applications of the technology. Within hours after the World
Trade Center buildings collapsed, some entrepreneurial students at the City
University of New York began creating a database that could, and ultimately
would, be used to reroute traffic around the site. In fact, the GIS database was
also used to plan for debris removal, to allocate and route service vehicles,
and to perform a wide variety of planning strategies in and around the area.
Figure 1.6 shows a 3-D image of the World Trade Center towers (www1.cuny.edu/
events/cunymatters/2001 december/groundzero.html; last visited 7/27/2007).
With the resulting development in the United States of a cabinet-level Office of
Homeland Security (OHS), the utility of GIS was quickly recognized. It is now an
integral part of OHS operations both at the state and the national levels. It may
one day become an integrative tool to empower the various agencies to share
vital security-related geospatial data and information.
The recognition of the utility of geospatial data and software has also been
responsible for some radical changes in how police and federal crime agencies
perform their missions. In September of 2000 a series of related sniper attacks
on innocent civilians in the Virginia and Washington, D.C. area prompted the FBI
to request the assistance of D. Kim Rossmo of the Vancouver Police Department
to employ the newly developing geospatial toolkit now know as ‘‘geographic
profiling’’ to identify suspects. By comparing geographic space used by these
28 Chapter 1 • Introduction to Digital Geography

Figure 1.6 A 3-D GIS view of the condition of

the World Trade Center towers and surround-
ing area after the attack on September 11, 2001.
(www1.cuny.edu/events/cunymatters/2001 december/
groundzero.html; last accessed 7/27/2007).

perpetrators with that of their victims (sometimes called activity space), together
with psychological profiles of similar types of criminals, the agencies hoped
to narrow down the potential search area for their investigations. Although
the results were not clearly responsible for the eventual apprehension of the
suspects, it shows once again the high level of sophistication and increasing

Figure 1.7 A portion of a map showing avian influenza around

the world. The map is helpful in tracking the spread of the disease
(www.passporthealthtampa.com/fluinfo.html; last accessed 7/27/2007).
 The Study of GIS 29

application areas of GIS and related technologies. In fact, the U.S. Department of
Justice (DOJ) created the Crime Mapping Research Center (CMRC) to encourage
and enhance the utility of GIS and related technologies within the DOJ.
In recent years there has been a major concern about the potential pandemic
effects of the avian flu. This has prompted a variety of international health orga-
nizations to begin tracking the occurrences of the disease worldwide (Fig-
ure 1.7) (www.passporthealthtampa.com/fluinfo.html; accessed 10/19/2007).
While these maps may be relatively crude by cartographic standards, they
represent an increasing use of GIS for such things as epidemiology and other
forms of medical research. There is even an effort by the National Geographic
Society to map the deep ancestry of people from all over the world.

THE STUDY OF GIS

GIS is an exciting, even glamorous, field with rapidly expanding opportunities

for those who are familiar with the concepts and the technology (University
Consortium for Geographic Information Science, 2007). A common fallacy is that
because GIS has become readily available and is showing up in a wide variety
of organizations, anyone can just sit down and start using the software. GIS
software, however, is not like the personal computer word processing software
we are so accustomed to. Although most of us know some basics about writing
and are perhaps very familiar with computer word processing, few of us are
comfortable with the analytical operations necessary to make decisions with
maps. Just as word processing software assumes that you can organize your
thoughts and ideas into coherent sentences and paragraphs, GIS assumes you
are familiar with the vocabulary of maps.
When asked, most of us will say that we are fairly comfortable with maps.
We use road maps routinely, and when necessary we consult a world atlas
with its political, physical, and economic boundaries, and associated colors,
graphic symbols, text, and, of course, north arrows. Most of us, however, don’t
often think about how much information a map contains. Nor do we give much
thought to the generalization processes that take place to decide which details
get included and which do not. Nobody wants to think about the problem of
representing an essentially spherical surface onto a flat piece of paper. Because
the map is such an elegantly designed document—so well thought out—we
simply accept it at face value.
On occasion, however, the limitations of the cartographic craft begin to show
through. How often have you wondered why a road that looks straight on a map
really curves all over the place? The graphic limits imposed on the cartographer
by available data quality, pen size, size of paper, and other conditions all
require him or her to make conscious decisions about how much detail can
and should be placed on a given map document. Much of this generalization is
imposed by the map scale. The smaller the map scale (the larger the mapped
area), the greater is the required generalization to produce the cartographic
model.
This concept of the map as a model of reality is perhaps the most important
concept that the future GIS professional must learn. Because the map has such
a strong visual appeal, the viewer tends to accept it as reality. Those who
30 Chapter 1 • Introduction to Digital Geography

work with maps, and especially those who work with the interactions of many
maps, must constantly remind themselves of the limitations of the cartographic
product. Here are just a few simple exercises you can do to become familiar
with the cartographic model and some of its limitations.
Take a look at a number of world maps from different atlases you might find
in your library. Pick out a country familiar to you. Notice how maps of it differ
with respect to sizes, shapes, boundary configurations, numbers of cities, and
the like. You might be surprised at the wide variation from one map to another.
Consider, then, what you would have to do if you were to digitize a map of this
country into a GIS. Which one would you select? Why? How does focusing on
the purpose of your GIS project help you decide which map you want?
Obtain two or three adjacent topographic maps for your areas. What are the
dates for each map? Are they the same? Different? Now the fun begins. With
clear plastic tape (preferably removable), tape the maps together so that all the
lines match. Be sure to turn on some relaxing music while you do this. What
do you discover? The lines don’t match exactly. Imagine how you are going to
input 20 or 30 of these documents into a GIS if the lines don’t line up.
Soil data might be nice to include in your GIS. Try the last experiment with
your local soil map sheets. The match between sheets is even worse. If you
are using soil maps from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation
Service, you might be quite taken with the use of the aerial photography in the
background. Admittedly, this feature is nice to have. But the addition comes at
a cost. If you are going to input this map with other maps inside a geographic
information system, you will have to co-register it with all the others so that the
features match. This requires that the locational coordinates be specified on all
maps. Try to find these on the soil survey maps. How do you solve this little
dilemma?
If the foregoing examples haven’t convinced you of the importance of under-
standing the vocabulary of maps before you begin speaking GIS, perhaps this
one will. You need to create a map of presettlement vegetation for your state or
region. It turns out that three very well-known vegetation mappers have com-
piled such maps for portions of your area of interest. Taking a trip to the library
to obtain these maps, you discover that the first shows vegetation classified
by its structural components (herbaceous, grasses, trees, shrubs, etc.), and the
second map, which intersects with the first map, shows vegetation classed by
floristics (based on species). You also note, to your annoyance, that the two
systems seem to have only limited map areas that correspond. Hoping for help
from the third map, you discover that although it is classed on the basis of a
combination of floristics and structure, its area does not overlap either of the
other two maps; in fact, it is well separated from them.
Classification problems of the type just described are common and require
the student of GIS to become more than a student of the terminology. Before
you can master the technology, you should first master its concepts. We will
begin this first step in the journey in the next chapter, where we will look
closely at the nature of geographic data and the methods by which they
can be represented on map documents. This first step will give you a better
appreciation of the fundamental building blocks of GIS and will ensure a more
cautious approach when you begin implementing geographic analysis and
cartographic modeling.
 References 31

Terms .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

attributes computer-assisted cartog- Morton Matrix

Canada Geographic raphy (CAC) retrieval monitor
Information System digitizer spatial
computer-aided drafting global positioning system tiling
(CAD) (GPS) topology
mental map

Review Questions .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

1. What was the initial impetus for the development of the first GIS?
2. Provide a description of the change in geographic thought from pure
exploration through to prediction and planning. Describe the place of GIS
in this context.
3. What is a GIS? Why is the software-only definition of GIS incomplete? What
other components make up a GIS?
4. What are the six basic types of analytical techniques generally found in a
geographic information system? Can you think of some examples of each?
5. What is the difference between GIS and CAC? Between GIS and CAD?
6. What are some of the technical difficulties encountered by Roger Tomlin-
son’s team in the early development of GIS?
7. What is the Morton Matrix? Topology? Retrieval monitor? What role did
each of these play in the early development of GIS?
8. Who would normally use a GIS? What accounts for its popularity?

References ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Cowen, D.J., 1988. ‘‘GIS Versus CAD Versus DBMS: What Are the Differneces?’’ Photogram-
metric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 54(11):1551–1554.
DeMers, M.N., 2005. ‘‘Geographic Information Systems.’’ Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Tomlinson, R.F., 1984. ‘‘Geographic Information Systems: The New Frontier.’’ The Opera-
tional Geographer, 5:31–35.
University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, 2007. Geographic Information
Science and Technology: Body of Knowledge 2006. Washington, D.C.: Association of
American Geographers.
U.S. News & World Report, 1995. ‘‘20 Hot Job Tracks: 1996 Career Guide,’’ October 30,
pp. 98–108.
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