Learn About GIS

AKA Digital Maps

This article at About.com describes GIS from a city government's point of view, walking the reader through a ficticious GIS-setup scenario. The article uses, then explains, common terminology in the GIS world. It's a good, one-page read for the learner who absorbs information faster by example, than by theory. Also on this page are other links to geography and GIS resources.

This site, hosted by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), has a world of information about GIS. On the home page are links like "What is GIS?", "Why use GIS?", and "What can you do with GIS?" Other links on this site point you to yet other good sites with multimedia presentations and printable posters on how GIS functions.

This on-line, open content encyclopedia has a long page on GIS. Many different map-based scenarios are used (albeit short ones) to illustrate the different abilities and strengths of a GIS.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, also has a listing for GIS. A clickable Table of Contents takes you to subsections such as Geocoding, web mapping, Mobile GIS, Networks, Data Modeling, and many others.