Some Notes on Geographic Information Systems: The Relationship Between their Practical Application and their Theoretical Evolution

Abstract

GISs have recently begun a new course: after a period of technical refinement, they are now passing through a phase in which their theoretical-cultural foundations are being re-examined. A debate on the construction of a new theoretical basis for GIS, begun by a group of experts in the field, now involves many new, as well as the long-standing scientific and technological, aspects of this discipline. Among the new-comers now demonstrating interest are the cognitive sciences. Efforts aimed at developing expert systems and user interfaces have stimulated in-depth consideration of the cognitive implications of the whole of GIS activity. Linguistics, non-Euclidean geometry and topology are becoming objects of such interest that GISs may act as springboards for a science of spatial information. Parallel to these new approaches however, there remains the current, widespread and purely operative view of GIS utilization, which, perhaps for solely incidental reasons, is at odds with the newer approaches. This paper presents some considerations of the two ways of viewing and working with GISs. The author, basing notes on experience in the field, hopes that it will contribute to the understanding of how the new courses and the variety of issues involved have come to be perceived by those far from where it has been set.