Edited By
Paul Longley &Graham Clarke
1995,Bell and Bain, Glasgow,U.K.
ISBN 1-899761-07-1
316 pages.
REVIEW
The field of GIS is developing rapidly, finding applications in an ever-widening range of commercial context. GIS models, techniques and data-enhancement methods is now making a transition from potential applications to applied analysis.
The objective of this book is to examine the relevance of GIS for business and service planning, in an era in which spatial analysis is beginning to unlock the wider potential of GIS. It considers ways in which GIS may be customised to meet specific user requirements and tackle the research challenges of the late 1990s. It is also concerned with the deployment of geographical thinking and analysis in the solution of pratical problems. This book aims at business and public service management needs through methodological contributions and evidences of its benefits.
The book contains twelve chapters which is categorized into four parts .These four parts include: Population Sources: measurement and modelling, Geodemographics, Proprietary and Customised GIS for Business and Service Planning and Geography in Business. The first part of the book deals with the a real units for which geographical data has developed an explanation of the problems posed by a real entities in the overlay and analysis of diverse geographical data sources. This part of the book includes three chapters. The focus of part two is upon the combination of census and external data to form indicators which bear an identifiable correspondence with consumption pattern.This includes three chapters. The third part focus the relative merits of customised versus proprietary solutions to business application databases.It gives a brief idea about how GIS has the potential to fulfill an integrative role in the operational functions of businesses and services towards the tactical and strategic levels. Three chapters in this part includes written by geographers from various field. The fourth part of the book examines the range of GIS in consultancy applications in business using international case studies, assessing how recent applications have benefited from research developments. The book critically assesses GIS in market place and evaluates different GIS strategies in the concluding part. The appendix of the book becomes important as it provides the opportunity to the application scientists and researchers to look in depth the options available to them.
Although the book has not been written in a text book format, but the academicians may find some of their course content in this book, on the other hand it is useful for GIS professionals, marketing managers and GIS students. The idea of this book spans a range of activities in management, consultancy, research and teaching which defy compartmentalisation within any traditional academic and commercial categories .The acronyms, abbreviations which are inevitable in such technical books have been simplified through the use of lucid language.
As mentioned in the preface of the book, the time of publication of the book was reduced as much as possible but the latest development aspects are missing which is unavoidable in such books. As a corollary to the simplicity in approach the book is intended to be first of its kind in the most developing and dynamic area of GIS and tries to evaluate the experiences and views of the world experts in the field.
GIS@development
