Review Paper What Does `GIS' Mean?

Many definitions of `GIS' have been proposed, but they are rarely discussed in the peer-reviewed literature. Most definitions in active use have serious limitations. Recent literature includes a variety of proposals to redefine GIS by changing the third word. This paper proposes an extended definition accompanied by a condensed form that contains the key concepts: `Geographic Information System (GIS) ± Organized activity by which people measure and represent geographic phenomena then transform these representations into other forms while interacting with social structures.'