The Map Library collects extensively in the areas of geographic information systems and geographic information science. Works on both topics can be found in the Library’s catalog by searching the subject “Geographic information systems.” Works about GIS as applied to different areas, such as health care, urban planning or population studies, can be found elsewhere in the University Library.
A geographic information system is “a system of hardware, software, data, people, organizations and institutional arrangements for collecting, storing, analyzing and disseminating information about areas of the earth.” (Dueker and Kjerne, “Multipurpose Cadastre: Terms and Definitions,” 1989). To be a fully-functioning GISystem, it must perform all of the operations necessary for data ingest and storage, manipulation and analysis, and output, and there always needs to be a purpose, a question to be answered, a query to be filled. While many think of GISystems as only a way to manipulate data to create a map, outputs from a GISystem can be a single number (e.g., number of forested acres), a table (e.g., populations for all of the counties in Illinois), or a graphic such as a map. Geographic information systems allow the combination of geographic/location data with attribute/theme data through computer-driven processes.
Geographic information science is the research field that underlies the creation and application of geographic information systems. GIScience encompasses theories, methods, technologies and data for understanding geographic patterns and relationships; it studies how geographic data is transformed into geographic information. The impacts of GISystem use on individuals and society as well as the impacts of society on GISystems are examined within GIScience as are foundational themes in geography and cartography.
Assistance with GISystems applications is available through the Library’s Scholarly Commons.
Selected GIS Books and Journals
Geospatial Information and Geographic Information Systems (GIS): An Overview for Congress by Peter Folger for the Congressional Research Service (2011) (online)
GIS: An Introduction to Mapping Technologies by Patrick McHaffie, Sungsoon Hwang, and Cassie Follett (2019)
E-book
Geographical Information Systems by Paul Longley (2 volumes) (1999)
A Primer of GIS: Fundamental Geographic and Cartographic Concepts by Francis Harvey (2016)
Principles of Geographical Information Systems by P.A. Burrough, Rachael McDonnell, and Christopher D. Lloyd (2015)
ESRI publishes a large volume of titles on GIS each year, some technical and focused on ESRI-produced software and others highly illustrated and showing the scope of questions answers and problems tackled using GIS
Journal of Geographical Systems
Illinois GIS Notes: The Newsletter of the Illinois GIS
ESRI Map Book
Annual book showcasing projects done using ESRI software
GIS Dictionary
From Esri