ABSTRACT
A ‘GIS’ (Geographic Information System) is still probably the most significant and important ‘buzzword’ presently associated with geography, especially for those of us involved in higher education. GIS currently means ‘big things’ to business, local government planning offices, and last but not least, higher education. Above all it means money, sales of computer hardware and software, research contracts, training courses, and the likelihood of longterm employment for many geography students graduating from universities and colleges of higher education. The growing need for spatial information in all walks of life means that the geographer has arguably rapidly become the centre of the GIS ‘world’.
