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Article

Title: Early GIS Technology and its Expressions

Author: Berry, Joseph Article Type: Product Analysis
Source: GeoWorld, p16(2) Publication Date: Oct 2006
  ISSN: 0897-5507
URL of Publication: http://www.geoplace.com/gw/

A discussion is provided of the history of geographic information system (GIS) technology and its expressions. Since the 1960s, decision-making as been increasingly quantitative, and math models are commonplace. Before the computerized map, most spatial analyses were drastically limited by manual processing procedures. The GIS moniker reinforced the movement away from maps as images to mapped data. In the early 1970s, computer mapping automated map drafting, and many of the concepts that are still the foundation of GIS technology were the results of work done in the 1970s. During the 1980s, change in data format and computer environments become important. For instance, spatial initial database management systems developed that could link computer-mapping abilities with traditional database management abilities, and early in GIS development, two alternative data structures for encoding maps were considered (vector and raster data model). By the middle of the 1980s, the GIS community generally agreed that the nature of any given set of data and the processing desired needed the most suitable data structure. Also discussed are the map analysis and modeling developments of the 1990s. The early expressions of GIS automated existing abilities, but its modern form challenges the nature and utility of maps.

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Geographic Information Systems

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