GIS: Bringing Geography to the World & the World to Geography

GGIISS DDaayy 22001144
GIS:
Bringing Geography to the
World & the World to
Geography
Presentation by
Dr. Barry Wellar
Professor Emeritus, University of Ottawa
Principal and Owner, Wellar Consulting Inc.
President, Information Research Board Inc.
http://wellar.ca/wellarconsulting/
wellarb@uottawa.ca
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
University of Ottawa
November 19, 2014

B. WELLAR GGIISS DDaayy 22001144 22
GIS: Bringing Geography to the World
&
the World to Geography
Barry Wellar
Context
The ideas and the title for this 2014 GIS Day presentation came to me while preparing
presentations for the Research Colloquium on Using the Retrospective Approach to Mine
for GIS Nuggets. Details about the Colloquium are posted at
http://wellar.ca/wellarconsulting/.
The first presentation is based on the concept of the Doomsday Map, which I initially
presented circa 30 years ago to students in the School of Planning and in Geography at
the University of Ottawa.
“Abuse v. Care of Land, Water, and Air, 1990-2015: The Doomsday Map Concept as a
Compelling Argument to Retrospectively Mine the Popular Literature for GIS Nuggets”
can be viewed at http://wellar.ca/wellarconsulting/.
The second presentation had its origins in research and policy advising that I did in the
1970s, while at the federal Ministry of State for Urban Affairs.
“Searching for GIS Nuggets: Mining Annual Reports by Canada’s Commissioner of
Environment and Sustainable Development” can be viewed at
http://wellar.ca/wellarconsulting/.
The third presentation, “Searching for GIS Nuggets: Mining Annual Reports and
Advisories by Ontario’s Commissioner of Environment” reflects four decades of
involvement in planning, transportation, GIS, and other matters in Ontario, and will be
posted in the Colloquium file noted above.
For this GIS Day presentation, GIS: Bringing Geography to the World & the World to
Geography, I refer to a selection of figures and tables from previous works which are
available online, and which elaborate both parts of the title.
It is my expectation that this approach will be of considerable value as you continue your
academic and/or other interests.
But first, a few remarks about the title itself, which I believe contains a message that you
will encounter with increasing frequency in the coming years.

GIS: Bringing Geography to the World
Prior to the advent of GIS technology, and even during the early years of GIS evolution,
Geography was primarily represented to the world by such means as: individual maps
and collections of maps; individual photographs and collections of photographs or other
images; globes; and, various kinds of text documents, including field notes, tables of
numbers, essays, reports, atlases, and books.
All in all, pretty boring stuff for many people, so it is small wonder that much of the world
limited its interest in Geography to names of oceans, continents, really big islands,
countries, capital cities, major rivers, and mountain ranges.
And, conversely, it is small wonder that much of the world paid relatively little attention to
the fundamentals of Geography involving such geographic factors as: accessibility,
adjacency, barriers, boundaries, buffers, closeness, clusters, compactness,
concentration, congestion, connectivity, contiguity, density, diffusion, dispersion,
distance, elevation, encroachment, form, intensification, interaction, isolation,
location, migration, mobility, morphology, movement, nearness, networks,
patterns, proximity, scale, segregation, separation, shape, sprawl, spread,
surfaces, territory, and topography.
And then along came serious advances in GIS technology. KABOOM! In a span of about
35 years, beginning circa 1980, and via the “G” of GIS, geographic factors, functions, and
structures such as those noted above have come to occupy a front-and-center position in
Canada, and in countries around the world in a wide range of venues: governments at all
levels; NGOs,; research institutes covering a variety of disciplines, trades, and
professions; businesses of all sizes; the media; and in universities, colleges, and schools.
Now, it appears fair to say, GIS is more than a window bringing Geography to the world, it
is the window.
GIS: Bringing the World to Geography
By increasing the ease of access to and use of spatial data and information about the
built and natural environments, GIS is bringing “the world” – e.g., governments, NGOs,
business, academe, researchers, the media, and various interest groups -- to various
fields, threads, streams, etc., of Geography, including topics in agriculture, climatology,
energy, environment, geomorphology, glaciology, land forms, land use, planning, regional
development, remote sensing, research methodology, resource management and use,
soils, sustainable development, transportation, and urban development.
However, there are limits to how much GIS technology can do to bring the world to
Geography, which leads to such questions as:

“What contribution is Geography making to support and encourage the
development and use of GIS technology and GIScience methods,
techniques, and operations by governments, NGOs, business,
researchers, academe, the media, and interest groups?”
Contributing Inputs from Geography to GIS
GIS Day is a special occasion, whereby we express what we are thinking and doing in
our GIS research, education, training, and applications activities. And, it is also is a time
to set forth what we wish others would think about and do, such as providing answers to
the question:
“What contribution is Geography making to support and encourage the
development and use of GIS technology and GIScience methods,
techniques, and operations by governments, NGOs, business,
researchers, academe, the media, and interest groups?”
The impending Research Colloquium on Using the Retrospective Approach to Mine for
GIS Nuggets is one such contribution, and a link is provided for those wishing to ‘check
out” what I have in mind for the meeting.
There is, of course, a lot more which can be said and done about contributions by
Geography on the topic, GIS: Bringing Geography to the World
& the World to Geography.
What follows is a brief selection of figures and tables from productions which are
available online, and which elaborate both parts of the title. I trust that the research
design imbedded in this approach will be instructive as you continue your work involving
GIS, GIScience, and the use of GIS and GIScience.
“Guide for Papers on Using the Retrospective Approach to Mine for GIS Nuggets”
Figure 1. GIS nuggets defined
Table 1. Examples of doing in research and doing in GIS upon which to base
conference papers
Table 2. Prescribed objects of attention for conference papers
Table 3. An indicative list of principal GIS topics for the Conference on Using the
Retrospective Approach to Mine for GIS Nuggets
Table 4. A list of question-based topics for the Conference on Using the
Retrospective Approach to Mine for GIS Nuggets

“Abuse v. Care of Land, Water, and Air, 1990-2015: The Doomsday Map Concept
as a Compelling Argument to Retrospectively Mine the Popular Literature for GIS
Nuggets”
Table 1. Possible nuggets derived from using the
Retrospective approach to examine “the literature”
Figure 11. Another look at Doomsday Map headlines
circa 25 years later: How well are we doing now?
Figure 12. Questions investigating the role of GIS in decisions
affecting the state of land, water, and air resources
Table 2. An indicative list of oversight agencies with responsibilities for
informing about the state of land, water, and air resources
Figure 13. A short list of illustrative good news and
bright futures headlines about the care (stewardship) of
land, water, and air resources
“Searching for GIS Nuggets: Mining Annual Reports by Canada’s Commissioner of
Environment and Sustainable Development”
Table 2. Bodies of literature and other productions
to mine for GIS nuggets
Table 3. Federal departments and agencies required
to prepare a sustainable development strategy
and respond to environmental petitions
Exhibit 4: Reports to Parliament by the
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Exhibit 11. Implementing sustainable development strategies
Exhibit 13. Information for decision making
Exhibit 14. Engaging Canadians
In closing, it has been a pleasure to present the concept of GIS: Bringing Geography
to the World & the World to Geography. Thank you for your attention.

GIS: Bringing Geography to the World & the World to Geography

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GIS: Bringing Geography to the World & the World to Geography