__NOTOC__ The Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge (GISTBoK) is a reference document produced by the

University Consortium for Geographic Information Science The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) is an academic non-profit organization dedicated to geographic information science, incorporated in 1995 in Washington, D.C. It fosters multidisciplinary cooperation among the a ...

(UCGIS) as the first product of its Model Curricula project, started in 1997 by

Duane Marble Duane may refer to: * Duane (given name) * Duane (surname) * Duane, New York, a US town * the title character of ''Duane Hopwood'', a 2005 film featured in the Sundance Film Festival * Duane Adelier, a main character of ''Unsounded'', a 2012 fantas ...

and a select task force, and completed in 2006 by David DiBiase and a team of editors. The ''GISTBoK'' is the most successful effort to date to create a comprehensive outline of the concepts and skills unique to the geospatial realm, including geographic information systems, geographic information science,

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Eart ...

satellite navigation systems A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pr ...

, and

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

. However, it is missing some topics, such as

geocoding Address geocoding, or simply geocoding, is the process of taking a text-based description of a location, such as an address or the name of a place, and returning geographic coordinates, frequently latitude/longitude pair, to identify a locatio ...

, and has significant granularity issues: large, mature subfields such as

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

, and

are covered in small sections, while the relatively immature field of

geocomputation Geocomputation (sometimes GeoComputation) is a field of study at the intersection of geography and computation. See also *Geoinformatics Geoinformatics is the science and the technology which develops and uses information science infrastructur ...

is granted an entire knowledge area. There is also opposition to the document as a whole, especially from the critical GIS community, on the grounds that the discipline is too diverse and too subjective to be so easily encapsulated. The editors have acknowledged these shortcomings, and have expressed hope that wider input on future editions will solve some of these issues. The ''GISTBoK'' is intended to be used in a variety of applications, including curriculum design, educational assessment, educational program accreditation, professional certification, hiring practices, and project RFP's. All of these activities are elements of the current trend toward regulation and standardization of the geospatial professions, and much of the opposition to the ''Body of Knowledge'' comes from those opposed to this trend, especially in academia, who feel that GIS&T is too diverse, interdisciplinary, and subjective to be regulated. One counterargument to this opposition is that the body of knowledge approach enables a flexible form of regulation that accommodates a diversity of skills and viewpoints. The ''GISTBoK'' is patterned after the

Computing Curricula Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...

project of the Association for Computing Machinery, and other model curriculum projects. It is essentially a hierarchical outline, composed of Knowledge Areas, broken down into Units, further divided into Topics. Each topic includes a list of 5–10 educational objectives that exemplify a person with varying levels of knowledge and skill. It does ''not'' include an encyclopaedic description of each topic. The first edition was co-sponsored by UCGIS and several major vendors (

ESRI Esri (; Environmental Systems Research Institute) is an American multinational geographic information system (GIS) software company. It is best known for its ArcGIS products. With a 43% market share, Esri is the world's leading supplier of GIS ...

Intergraph Intergraph Corporation was an American software development and services company, which now forms part of Hexagon AB. It provides enterprise engineering and geospatially powered software to businesses, governments, and organizations around the w ...

, and GE

Smallworld Smallworld is the brand name of a portfolio of GIS software provided by GE Digital, a division of General Electric. The software was originally created by the Smallworld company founded in Cambridge, England, in 1989 by Dick Newell and others ...

), and was published in August 2006 by the

Association of American Geographers The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a non-profit scientific and educational society aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of geography and related fields. Its headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. Th ...

References

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External links

UCGIS Model Curricula ProjectGeographic Information Science & Technology Body of Knowledge
2006 non-fiction books Bodies of knowledge Scientific documents Geographic information science

See also

References

Further reading

External links