The history and future of geographic information (GI) in the context of big data creates new avenues of concern over its organization, access and use. In this book the authors explore both the background and present challenges facing the preservation of GI, focusing on the roles of librarians, archivists, data scientists, and other information professionals in the creation of GI records for its organization, access, and use.
Bradley Wade Bishop's intellectual contributions focus on how geographic information is used by information consumers, particularly those using geographic information systems (GIS). Bishop's major accomplishments bridge domains and provide understanding between stakeholders as demonstrated by his 23 peer-reviewed publications and research on a number of projects totaling over $2.55 million. Bishop's background in library and information science prepared him to work more efficiently in retrieving geographic information and organizing project data with metadata, but he also became acutely aware of geographic information management problems facing data curators and other GIS users. These problems led him to further explore the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata, and other related geographic information policies. Seeing the great potential benefit of library and information science to organize geographic information, Bishop focused on training a new wave of geographic information professionals. In 2011, he received an IMLS grant titled Geographic Information Librarianship (GIL), with co-PI Professor Tony H. Grubesic, Ph.D. (Drexel University), to create and deliver coursework to prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to locate, retrieve, analyze, and make geospatial data accessible.
Tony H. Grubesic is the College Professor of Policy Analytics and Director of the Center for Spatial Reasoning & Policy Analytics at Arizona State University. His research and teaching interests are in geographic information science, regional development and public policy evaluation. Author of over 125 research publications and three books, his recent work focuses on telecommunications policy and broadband, rural air transportation systems and geographic information librarianship.