Ground Truth: The Social Implications of Geographic Information Systems

by John Pickles (Editor)

Over the past two decades, techniques for advanced computing and enhanced imaging have transformed the ways planners, geographers, surveyors, and others think about and visualize the places, regions, and peoples of the earth. Ground Truth is the first book to explicitly address the role of geographic information systems (GIS) in their social context. Contributing authors consider the ideas and practices that have emerged among GIS users, demonstrating how they reflect the material and political interests of certain groups. Chapters also discuss the impact of new GIS technologies on the discipline of geography, and evaluate the role of GIS within the wider transformations of free-market capitalism.

248 pages, Paperback

First published December 7, 1994

About the author

John Pickles is Earl N. Phillips Distinguished Professor of International Studies in the Department of Geography at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the author of A History of Spaces: Cartographic Reason, Mapping and the Geo-Coded World.

Reviews

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but not exactly on topic for my paper. It's focused on the commercial and marketing side of GIS. Ground Truth: The Social Implications of Geographic Information by John Pickles is an oft-cited book. Having seen it appear in the references of so many of the books and articles I have been reading for my GIS and disaster recovery term paper, I requested a copy of it via Link+ to see if it would be useful for my paper.

The book is a series of essays on GIS and society. There are some articles that argue for GIS (and more broadly cartography) as being a power struggle. Those who make and control the maps have the power over those who don't. Other articles look at the social welfare aspects of GIS and how it can be used and abused in the tracking of demographic or medical information.

While these essays were interesting and informative, none of them were on topic for my paper. I already have so much in the way of background and historical perspective for my paper that I didn't feel that this book had anything more to contribute and if anything was tangential to my topic.

[Salem]

good