Customer Reviews

A to Z GIS: An Illustrated Dictionary of Geographic Information Systems

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Have you rummaged through a GIS textbook for half an hour looking for a simple definition, never to find it? Have you wondered why a $100 "introductory" textbook has loads of extraneous information but not a simple glossary, or how it can be written so obtusely and still get past an editing staff? Well, this is the Allen Iverson of GIS books, "The Answer." It gives you GIS concepts clearly and succinctly, with great explanatory illustrations for the "visual learners" out there, which are many in geography I would think. This has been a "go to" book for me in GIS but also in Remote Sensing; there's no question whether to get it, only how much the bookstore will pay you to buy back that unused textbook that you blew $100 on.

Books about GIS are usually quite technical, surveying the applications and computer potentials of geographic information systems, so it's refreshing to note that A TO Z GIS: AN ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF GEOGEPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS is something different: a simple set of geography and cartography definitions designed to defines values, coordinates, reference systems, representations, and GIS data processing methods and routines. Students of GIS will find this essential to understanding the terminology of both computer and geography worlds.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I've been studying GIS for a few months now on my own, and have often been stuck as to the meaning of a word.
For me this is a very good little book, but it did not even mention some of the projections that are popular in
my country, like the Lambert projections. I am not going to give this book a low mark just for that, because I did pick up
a lot of useful information in a very efficient way.
If you want to go about it the long way get the Geographic Information Systems and Science but you might fall asleep in the process (it's a good book though!!).
The explanations of general computer science concepts like object oriented programming are very introductory, and I would go to the Wikipedia for more detail after if I didnt know the meanings.

So I'll probably give it 5 stars when a second edition comes out.
Still, for the money it's a definite winner, and it's very enjoyable read.

I found this book useful while studying for exams and oral examinations during my Masters program. The thing to remember is this is a ESRI book and uses their terminology. If you are a student I would recommend this book to use a reference. The book isn't going to teach you GIS, it is meant to be used as a reference. So I would still buy the required books for your class.

First off, this is not a manual, tutorial or teaching aid. It's a dictionary of GIS terms. But that's what makes it so handy!

I am a GIScience researcher at the US Geological Survey. In my job, I try to help the USGS make better maps. That involves writing about GIS a lot. This book gets frequent use when I need to mention subjects that I don't work with regularly. I also pull it out when I am reviewing other papers.

In a nutshell:

* It is not authoritative by any means but it does a good job.
* It is more complete than WikiPedia but the "definitions" are more concise (short but spot-on)
* It is compact and easy to throw in a backpack.

If you are writing a term paper for a GIS class or working on a thesis and need to mention some GIS concepts, this is a good place to start.

A little deeper: I just scanned through the list of contributors. I know about a half dozen of them personally. They are all ESRI employees. Since I don't recognize any of the other names (definitely none from outside ESRI, like Nick Chrisman, Mike Goodchild, Barbara Buttenfield) I would be they are almost all ESRI employees. So this dictionary is very much the ESRI A to Z GIS. Most of the time that's OK but just be aware that of the source.

I purchased this book as a supplement to my course materials for graduate level GIS classes. The book is great as a dictionary only (5 stars) but does little to explain GIS concepts or processes. The researchers did well to include simple pictures that relate to the terms being described. The book itself is small enough to keep in a daypack with no problems and is lightweight. Overall, a good GIS supplement.

Purchased this book to help with a class I am taking, but it isn't all that helpful. The first 3 terms I looked up were not even in the book, I find it easier to locate definitions via Wiki, rather than this book. I forgot to return it to Amazon within the 30 days.