What exactly is this thing called GIS? Most who are even remotely familiar with the discipline and technology already know it is an acronym. GIS stands for a geographic information system. Great, now we know what it stands for, but what does it mean? To understand what GIS means, it is easier to start from the end and work backwards.
GIS is a System
First, a GIS is a system. So then, what is a system?
To find this answer, I turned to a favorite source of information on the web, Wikipedia. Wikipedia defines a system as, “a set of entities, real or abstract, comprising a whole where each component interacts with or is related to at least one other component and they all serve a common objective.”
Simply, a system is a whole bunch of parts working together to accomplish something. Since these parts are interrelated, all must be working together, or the system not longer works and the objective is not achieved. GIS is a system, a collection of interrelated parts working together to accomplish an objective.
GIS is an Information System
GIS is a information system, so what is information? Is information simply data?
Data is, “data is the symbolic recording of something.” Data, by itself, possesses little meaning. Think of data as a bolt. This bolt holds very little meaning by itself. What is it for? What size is it?
What if this bolt is a 14mm bolt used as the plug for the oil pan in a car. What used to be simply a dumb bolt now has a little more importance, this bolt achieves more meaning. It becomes information. What used to be just dumb data, now with more known about it, becomes information because it adds knowledge to the receiver.
Now, if this bolt was noticed on a garage floor, it would have more importance. Since the receiver knows this bolt keeps the oil from draining out of the engine, if this bolt is not in the engine, there may very well be a serious problem. The receiver, by knowing this information, now has the knowledge to know there very well may be a problem.
GIS is an information system, a set of interrelated parts working together to accomplish the objective of organizing dumb data into knowledge.
GIS is a Geographic Information System
Finally, GIS is a geographic information system. Thus, what is geography?
Geography literally means, “to describe the earth.” To describe the earth, it is useful to know the locations of objects on the earth. These locations become the fundamental data component of a geographic information system.
When other information can be associated with these locations, this location data becomes geographic information and allows users of the GIS to gain knowledge about the earth.
GIS is a geographic information system, a set of interrelated parts working together to accomplish the objective of organizing data about locations into knowledge about the earth.
