As start, here i put some introduction from "the Father of GIS" -Mr. Stan Aronoff, in his book: Geographic Information systems: A Management Perspective (WDL Publication:1989). Of course it's not the only book to say about GIS, there are so many others. May be some of you have known very well with this book since it is used in so many universities as a must-read GIS book.
Why should i use Aronoff's book here ? you ask.
Well, i should tell you that the book is very good for beginner. As it stated at the front of the book. Mr. Jack Dangermond (President of Environmental Systems Research Institute -ESRI) said at the Foreword that: "this book is aimed at both users and managers of GIS technology, and assumes that the reader has no previous background in the field. The book is designed to provide a novice user or manager with a logically complete introduction to what she or he needs to know in order to deal efficiently with GIS technology."
That’s why I put this book for beginning of this blog, because it’s good for beginner, and it’s good as beginning too.
Let's start. Here we go. At the very beginning of his book, Aronoff said that: "Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based systems that are used to store and manipulate geographic information."
It is so straight forward and to the point, right ?
Why should they're computer-based, why not manual system ?
Why just geographic information, while there are so many data and information exist ?
What's so important about this geographic information ? you ask.
Well, further more, it stated that: “a GIS is designed for the collection, storage, and analysis of objects and phenomena where geographic location is an important characteristic or crucial to the analysis. While handling and analyzing data that are referenced to a geographic location are key capabilities of a GIS, the power of the system is most apparent when the quantity of data involved is too large to be handled manually. There may be hundreds or thousands of features to be considered, or there may be hundreds of factors associated with each feature or location.
These data may exist as maps, tables of data, or even as lists of names and addresses. Such large volumes of data are not efficiently handled using manual methods. However, when those data have been input to a GIS, they can be easily manipulated and analyzed in ways that would be too costly, too time-consuming, or practically impossible to do using manual methods.”
So, it is apparent now, that a GIS is not always (not must) a computer-based system, it also could be done manually. As it is stated more clearly by Aronoff (p:39) that: "..in its broadest sense, a geographic information system is any manual or computer-based set of procedures used to store and manipulate geographically referenced data."
Please note that the most functions early stated here are: store, manipulate, and analyze geographically referenced data (no output ?). What the word ‘information’ in GIS for, if there is no output to display or no media to spread the result of the analyzed-data to become information ?
Finally, the definition used in Aronoff's book stated in page 39, where: “A GIS is a computer-based system that provides the following four sets of capabilities to handle georeferenced data: 1. input; 2. data management (data storage and retrieval); 3. manipulation and analysis; and 4. output. The restriction to computer-based system reflects the focus of this book. There are many manual system that are used routinely to perform these functions and are effective for the tasks they perform and under the conditions in which they operate.”
I think that’s all for the introduction. Some questions revealed. Of course, once more, there are many introduction to GIS by other experts. What’s yours ? (please summit your comment).
Why should i use Aronoff's book here ? you ask.
Well, i should tell you that the book is very good for beginner. As it stated at the front of the book. Mr. Jack Dangermond (President of Environmental Systems Research Institute -ESRI) said at the Foreword that: "this book is aimed at both users and managers of GIS technology, and assumes that the reader has no previous background in the field. The book is designed to provide a novice user or manager with a logically complete introduction to what she or he needs to know in order to deal efficiently with GIS technology."
That’s why I put this book for beginning of this blog, because it’s good for beginner, and it’s good as beginning too.
Let's start. Here we go. At the very beginning of his book, Aronoff said that: "Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based systems that are used to store and manipulate geographic information."
It is so straight forward and to the point, right ?
Why should they're computer-based, why not manual system ?
Why just geographic information, while there are so many data and information exist ?
What's so important about this geographic information ? you ask.
Well, further more, it stated that: “a GIS is designed for the collection, storage, and analysis of objects and phenomena where geographic location is an important characteristic or crucial to the analysis. While handling and analyzing data that are referenced to a geographic location are key capabilities of a GIS, the power of the system is most apparent when the quantity of data involved is too large to be handled manually. There may be hundreds or thousands of features to be considered, or there may be hundreds of factors associated with each feature or location.
These data may exist as maps, tables of data, or even as lists of names and addresses. Such large volumes of data are not efficiently handled using manual methods. However, when those data have been input to a GIS, they can be easily manipulated and analyzed in ways that would be too costly, too time-consuming, or practically impossible to do using manual methods.”
So, it is apparent now, that a GIS is not always (not must) a computer-based system, it also could be done manually. As it is stated more clearly by Aronoff (p:39) that: "..in its broadest sense, a geographic information system is any manual or computer-based set of procedures used to store and manipulate geographically referenced data."
Please note that the most functions early stated here are: store, manipulate, and analyze geographically referenced data (no output ?). What the word ‘information’ in GIS for, if there is no output to display or no media to spread the result of the analyzed-data to become information ?
Finally, the definition used in Aronoff's book stated in page 39, where: “A GIS is a computer-based system that provides the following four sets of capabilities to handle georeferenced data: 1. input; 2. data management (data storage and retrieval); 3. manipulation and analysis; and 4. output. The restriction to computer-based system reflects the focus of this book. There are many manual system that are used routinely to perform these functions and are effective for the tasks they perform and under the conditions in which they operate.”
I think that’s all for the introduction. Some questions revealed. Of course, once more, there are many introduction to GIS by other experts. What’s yours ? (please summit your comment).
0 komentar:
Post a Comment