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There are many definitions of the study of geography. Most scholars define the discipline of geography as broadly concerned with the study of the earth’s environment and interpretation of the different natural and man-made phenomena that occur across it. Geographers are interested in the...

The recent socioeconomic trends, convergence of telecommunication technologies and the emergence of information as an integral component of the contemporary economy, have had significant effects on individuals and on wider social groups in the population. The current information node infrastructure of...

The emergence, in recent years, of digital libraries and of Internet-based communication applications have led some researchers to propose that the emerging data infrastructure of the Internet and the capabilities of digital libraries can be used to organize and ease data-mining digital geospatial data...

To be optimally useful, geospatial resources must be described. This description is referred to as metadata. Metadata tells “who, what, where, when, why, and how” about every facet of a piece of data or service. When properly done, metadata answers a wide range of questions about geospatial resources...

The preceding chapter discussed how geographic and cartographic materials are traditionally described in libraries. With the growth of geospatial data, new methods of description needed to be developed to allow users, often with very different information needs, to find and retrieve relevant resources...

With the creation of the Internet and the continued evolution of technologies in GIS, networking, and knowledge management, access to geospatial information is a critical component of research and practice. Interoperability is the “new paradigm for joining heterogeneous computer systems into...

Geographers often define the spatial parameters of different environments by integrating diverse data sets with locational coordinates to create an attribute-rich digital geospatial dataset. From these datasets, researchers can observe and record phenomena and create new geographic metaphors in...

Among the most challenging aspects of GIS are identifying needs, acquiring resources, and managing the collection, a process that involves decision making in a dynamic and changing environment. Libraries that have traditionally collected maps have a good grounding in many of the issues, yet even they...

“I invite all of you to become geographers, if not by vocation then by avocation. GIS is about thinking geographically. Beyond being an essential component of GIS, geography also opens new avenues of examining and analyzing the world around us. More importantly, it provides us with totally new...

Geographic information is ubiquitous, from MapQuest in Google to the use of global positioning systems on PDAs and automobiles. More people use geographic information on a daily basis, from directions and a review of a local restaurant to building new infrastructures for communities. Therefore...