A Geography of Geographic Information

Objectives of this lecture:

  • Historical context
  • Dimensions of the Geography of Geographic Information
  • Institutional Issues

    • <Resources: linked individually by topic below>

    placing GIS in Social and Historical Context

    As I have been saying all quarter:

    geographic information is 'constructed' inside a framework of institutional, social and cultural relationships.

    Thus, the abstract and theoretical must be understood in terms of the particular axioms created by specific places and times. Axioms mean those beliefs that are accepted without proof, tacitly understood, "how things are done around here". Of course, geographic information is about a world that is "real", not entirely constructed by human action, the world does bite back.

    Understanding the History of Geographic Information

    Not just the history of the technology, but how it connects to social and political needs at a given time and place. For example, some of the longer-term mapping institutions -


    At a given location, what is the history that counts? May not be apparent.

  • It might sound odd, but Napoleon set the standards for cadastral mapping in parts of Germany and in Slovenia. These were French departments, a part of the Empire, for just long enough. <Overhead map>
  • In USA, states west of Alleghanies were surveyed in Public Land Survey townships with square-mile sections (oriented to cardinal directions) [except Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas - which used its own version for west Texas]. Similarly, the convention by which one transfers property varies across the USA with interesting connections to competing approaches to which groups take your money... <Overhead maps>

    • Dimensions of regularity in Geographic Information

    <detailed bullets on Resource page>

    National Culture:

    combination of various factors of historical context; classic divisions Yet, two cultures (UK and USA) very close by most measures are far apart in geographic information.
    [remembering to avoid some belief in a 'superorganic' culture; people are the agents of change and of stability...]

    Scale of decision-making:

    Centralized vs decentralized:
    USA: 3042 counties, 19200 municipalties; etc. ... each operates GIS as they see fit. Versus some highly centralized bureaucracies: one national survey makes all maps down to local engineering drawings (eg. UK Ordance Survey or Finland)

    Uniformity:

    the tendency to desire a common cultural ideal versus a tendency to create a particular local solution...

    Secrecy:

    issues of secrecy of administration; open access to public process; protection of individual privacy - construct the meaning of information

    Continuity:

    cultural approach to creating 'objects' in time and space; discrete vs. continuous

    Equity:

    Social/political/cultural goals about distribution of economy and power

    GIS in its institutional setting

    One way around the requirements study (see Chapter 10) is to examine the reasons that you collect information in the first place: social purposes - [the outer ring of the diagram]

    Mandates    : provide formal rules establishing public agencies

    Custodians    : agencies appointed to become guardians of certain information; over the long-term; maintenance is the key issue...

    Links to current initiatives and examples.

    Ethics questions for GIS

    Who should pay for GIS (and how much)? How will that influence what is known?

    When should you refuse to do an analysis with the wrong (bad, etc.) data?

    Who should have access to GIS tools and data?

    <more on ethics>

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    Version of 8 December 2003