Nicholas R. Chrisman

A Framework For Temporal Geographic Information

This paper defines the critical components of cartographic time and compares temporal and spatial topologies. Because time is topologically similar to space, spatial data structuring principles can be adapted to temporal data. We present three conceptualizations of temporal geographic information and select one as the most promising basis for a temporal geographic information system. This conceptualization creates a spatial composite of all geometric information (at all times), where each object has an attribute history distinct from that of its neighbors.

Full Circle: More than Just Social Implications of GIS

AbstractThe emergence of geographic information systems (GIS) has raised a useful debate in the discipline of geography over the connection between technology and society. Proponents of GIS have argued from the beginning that their work had a value that warranted adoption; hence, that technology brought something to society. A wave of criticism argued that there were implications and risks to society in adopting these technologies. While this debate served some useful purposes, it was only a start on the issue. The focus on implications risked the simplification of seeing GIS as an inexorable, implacable force, a form of “technological determinism.” This paper argues for a full circle of implication: GIS – the daily practice, the data stored, the software – is constructed and maintained by social processes embedded in historical and geographically contingent settings. The full circle requires an openness to studies of the influence from the social realm to the technology. By tracing the full circle, too, ...

What Does ‘GIS’ Mean?

Many definitions of ‘GIS’ have been proposed, but they are rarely discussed in the peer-reviewed literature. Most definitions in active use have serious limitations. Recent literature includes a variety of proposals to redefine GIS by changing the third word. This paper proposes an extended definition accompanied by a condensed form that contains the key concepts: ‘Geographic Information System (GIS) – Organized activity by which people measure and represent geographic phenomena then transform these representations into other forms while interacting with social structures.’

A transformational approach to GIS operations

GIS research has a continuing thread devoted to classifying the operations performed by analytical software. Prior efforts to classify GIS operations have limitations and inconsistencies, often arising from an attempt to establish overly direct links between geographic procedures and arithmetical operations. The transformational view of cartography provides a more solid basis for classifying GIS operations. This paper presents a new scheme for geographical transformations based on measurement frameworks as the principal distinction. Transformations between measurement frameworks can be summarized in terms of a spatial neighbourhood and a rule to process attribute information. This scheme organizes most analytical GIS operations by their geometric and attribute assumptions.

The Imbrication of Geography and Technology: The Social Construction of Geographic Information Systems

This chapter examines the disciplinary interface between geography and technology from an ecological perspective. Our analysis of a few cases shows that the relationships between geography and technology are never clear-cut, but always intertwined like tree roots in a forest. The roots (or rhizomes) of each tree support an individual above ground, while the tangled roots just visible or invisible below the surface are a messy tangle that also are part of biochemical processes that sustain each tree, and the forest in which other trees grow. Rhizomes from different trees and plants interweave in symbiotic or parasitic relationship that are integral to the ecosystem. The relationships between geography and technology also can be understood in this ecological metaphor. What has made the growth of GIS possible? We argue that a highly fertile interface between geography and technology supports the profuse growth of GIS. Drawing on science and technology studies, we argue that the geography-technology relationship is no “chicken and egg” problem, but is evidenced in myriad, theoretically infinite relationships and interactions occurring worldwide. Each GIS implementation follows many roots, and we need to excavate them in order to understand the historical development of the interface between geography and technology. This approach calls for attention to specific sites and configurations of technology. The development of geography is intricately interwoven with the development of technology, but under no circumstances does technology determine a path for geography. In the fillamous rhizomatic network, many geographies and technologies connect and lead to subsequent developments.

Extending the Classroom: Hypermedia-supported Learning

ABSTRACT Hypermedia materials have great potential in teaching but it is unclear how university geography courses will adapt to the new technology and evolve. We have used a two-pronged approach that places course-specific materials into an integrated hypermedia resource connected to external sources that complement and extend the content. This strategy provides a path for traditional course materials to give access to the enormous resources available on the Worldwide Web. The results of a student survey indicate that the hypermedia materials are a helpful addition for students, especially to support individual learning strategies.