ABSTRACT
The term “Geographic Information System” (GIS) varies as a matter of perspective, and ranges in scope from specific computer software packages to software, hardware and data, to software, hardware, data, and support personnel. The most exhaustive definition is given by Dueker and Kjern as:
While this is an all-inclusive definition, the software packages at the heart of a GIS have their roots in the work of two researchers at Ohio State University, Marble and Tomlinson, in the mid to late 1960s. These men coined the phrase “Geographic Information System,” and defined a GIS as having the following four components:
1. Data Input and the ability to process data. 2. Data Storage and Retrieval with the ability to
edit. 3. Data Manipulation and Analysis. 4. Data Reporting Systems for the display of tabular
and graphic information.
