Geographic Information Systems: Socioeconomic Applications: 05/01/07

Geographic Information Systems: Socioeconomic Applications is another of those BookCrossing books I received via the old Book Relay site. It was one of those books that piqued my interested and then languished on my "to be read" pile. In the interest of clearing my shelves, I finally pulled it of the shelf next to my bed and gave it a read.

GIS introduces the theory and practice of using computers for creating geographic based databases. The first third introduces the computer equipment needed and it is here that I feel later editions are probably more useful. There are better and faster computers and scanners available now but it is still a solid introduction to the basics.

The rest of the book examines how geographic data can be used to gather and analyze census data. It looks at two different approaches, that of the US and British censuses.

While reading this book I kept wondering if future editions will include such personalized uses of geographic data that modern technology has made available. I'm thinking of GPS and Google Earth and other such things.

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