Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The Geographic Information Science Body of Knowledge
2.0: Toward a New Federation of GIS Knowledge
Nigel M. Waters
Dept. of Geography & GeoInformation Science, George Mason University,
4400 University Dr., MS 6C3, Fairfax, Virginia, USA 22030
nwaters@gmu.edu
Abstract.
Geographic Information Science is a relatively new discipline. In-
deed the teaching of the technology of Geographic Information Systems did not
really begin as a university subject until the US based National Center for Geo-
graphic Information Analysis developed a “Core Curriculum” in 1990. This
Curriculum was revised in the late 1990s in an ongoing effort to provide educa-
tional resources for GIS university lecturers. Within the GIS community, a
perceived need to update this Curriculum, on an ongoing basis, led to the devel-
opment of a “Body of Knowledge” by representative organizations from aca-
demia (primarily the US University Consortium of Geographic Information
Science), professional bodies (e.g., the Association of American Geographers)
and the world-wide, industry leading GIS software manufacturing company,
Esri. This Body of Knowledge was published in 2006 and it is now freely avail-
able online. However, it has become dated and originally there was no process
implemented for keeping it current. As a consequence there is now a new
project to develop the Body of Knowledge 2.0 (BoK 2.0). On April 13
th
, 2013,
the first meeting of those involved in the development of BoK 2.0 will be held
at the Association of American Geographers annual conference in order to plan
a process for completing this project. The BoK 2.0 will be developed using col-
laborative technologies such as wikis. These will be facilitated by new immer-
sive computer environments similar to the technology used in Second Life. This
keynote talk will explore how these new technologies, including new develop-
ments arising from social media, will integrate a world-wide knowledge federa-
tion of Geographic Information Science. Links to these approaches and the
Webble World environment will be explored and suggested.
Keywords:
GIS, Body of Knowledge, Core Curriculum, federation, Webble World.
1
Introduction
This paper begins with a short review of the history of Geographic Information Science
(GIS), both from a research and a pedagogic perspective. This narrative, which will
have a strongly Anglo-North American focus, recounts the origins of the technology
from the mid-1950s and the subsequent founding of the National Center for Geographic
Information and Analysis (NCGIA) in the late 1980s. The role of the NCGIA in
