Geographic Information Science (GISci)

Geographic information science (GISci) addresses the fundamental issues underlying geographic information systems (GIS) and their use to advance scientific understanding. The following sections explore this definition in greater detail, discuss the history of the idea, present some of the research agendas that have been devised for the field, and ask whether it is possible to identify consistent and universal properties of geographic information that can guide the design of systems.

GIS are powerful tools, and their effective use requires an understanding of numerous basic principles. For example, any application of GIS implies the adoption of some strategy with respect to scale, since it is impossible for a GIS database to contain all of the geographic detail found in the real world. Scale is only one of several fundamental issues affecting GIS, and, ultimately, it is our ability to address those issues that determines the success of GIS applications and the success of future developments in GIS technology. Someone trained in the manipulation of today's GIS technology would be able to carry out routine operations, but only an education in the basic underlying principles would allow that person to be effective in devising new applications, troubleshooting problems, and adjusting quickly to new and future versions of GIS technology.

The term geographic information science, or GIScience, was coined by Michael Goodchild in a paper published in 1992, based on ideas presented in two keynote speeches in 1990 and 1991. Essentially, the term is used today in two different but somewhat overlapping ways. First, GISci is “the science behind the systems,” the set of research questions whose answers both make GIS possible and provide the basis for more-advanced GIS. In addition, the term is often used to refer to the use of GIS in support of scientific research in the social or environmental sciences, where it is important to adhere to the norms and practices of science. The emphasis here is on the first meaning.

Since 1992, the term has gained significant momentum, as evidenced by the title of this encyclopedia. Yet other essentially equivalent terms are also in use, particularly outside the United States and in disciplines more rooted in surveying than in geography. Geomatics has a similar meaning, as do geoinformatics and spatial information science, and the terms geographic and geospatial have also become virtually interchangeable. GISci and its variants have been adopted in the names of several journals, academic programs, academic departments, and conferences, and the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) has become an influential voice for the GISci community in the United States.