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that emphasizes an ecological approach
involving the integration of different
landscape features. Ian McHarg, a
leading landscape architect who is credited
with much of the early GIS conceptual
work, articulated this approach as
follows:
The benefits of the ecological view
seem patent to me, but equally
clear are the profound changes
which espousal of this view will
effect. The economic value system
must be expanded into a relative
system encompassing all bio
physical processes and human
aspirations. Law must reflect that
death and injury through flood,
drought, avalanche, mudslide or
earthquake can result from human
negligence or malice and thus
should fall within the jurisdiction
of the courts. Medicine must be
more concerned with creating the
environment of health than with
therapy alone. Industry and com
merce must expand their accounting
to include all costs and benefits.
But it is in education that the greatest
benefits lie. Here separation
rules, yet integration is the
quest. This ecology offers: the
science of the relations of organism
and the environment, integrative
of the sciences, humanities and
the arts—a context for studies of
man and the environment
(McHarg 1969, p. 197).
The essence of LIS/GIS, and the strength
of GIS technology, is the integration of
land-related data and information. It
therefore supports McHarg’s ecological
view and an environmental perspective
that is becoming increasingly popular.
Figure 2 shows the multidimensional
context and scope of LIS/GIS. Four
component environments can be
identified: (i) the system environment
which deals primarily with the technical
aspects of GIS; (ii) the application
environment in which the tool is generally
treated as a "blackbox" and tire main focus
is on spatial modelling, analysis and
design; (iii) the institutional environment
which forms the socioeconomic backdrop
for (i) and (ii) and determines the
resources to be used to address a certain
problem; (iv) the theoretical and
philosophical environment which deals
with such issues as the formulation of a
spatial theory. Certain traditional
disciplines will naturally focus on one or
two of these environments, while the
more interdisciplinary-oriented
individuals will reach across a broader
range.
Having laid out the general scope of
LIS/GIS, the remainder of this paper will
describe how The Ohio State University
is responding to the educational
challenges presented by this growing
“interdiscipline,” and particularly how
this is handled within the Department of
Geodetic Science and Surveying and the
Department of Geography.
LIS/GIS AT THE OHIO STATE
UNIVERSITY (OSU)
Within the past three years OSU has
allocated five new faculty positions in the
LIS/GIS area. Reflecting the inter
disciplinary nature of LIS/GIS, these
positions are distributed across three
different departments and colleges: the
Department of Geodetic Science and
Surveying in the College of Mathematical
and Physical Sciences, the Department of
Geography in the College of Social and
Behavioral Sciences, and the School of
Natural Resources in the College of
Agriculture. In addition to these new
faculty, there are several LIS/GIS
scholars who have been at this university
for some time and have established
themselves as leaders in one or more
aspects of this field.
One of the distinctive characteristics of
OSU is its size. With a student
population of approximately 55,000, it
ranks as the most populous university
campus in the country. The major
advantage of such a large campus is the
wealth of resources, both human and
technical, available to students and
faculty. This is particularly true in the
area of LIS/GIS, in which approximately
18 faculty are involved. The most active
departments are Geodetic Science and
Surveying, Geography, and the School
of Natural Resources, but there are
several other departments involved
including: City and Regional Planning,
Civil Engineering, Geology and
Mineralogy, and Landscape Architecture.
The broad array of disciplines involved in
