Towards a Taxonomy of Geographical Information Systems

This paper places geographical information systems (GZS) in the context of information systems generally and spe@cally illustrates how GIS may be classified by adapting an earlier taxonomy of information systems. The recent literature on information systems taxonomies is critically reviewed and an earlier taxonomy is tested and applied against several case study organisations who use GIS. It is suggested that the test of a taxonomy should be its utility in helping to describe, analyse, or predict. The paper concludes by suggesting that the proposed taxonomy can be used as a diagnostic tool by business organisations to help choose an appropriate management strategy for adopting GIS.