A Point of Intersection: GIS

At first glance, Geospatial Information Systems seem to have no relevance to the information science world whatsoever.  This is the sort of stuff used by the military, law enforcement, the census bureau, or scientists needing to analyze geographic data.  Libraries and archives don't really fit those.  Much of our research is qualitative and that which is not typically does not have a geographic component. There does not seem to be much room for GIS, although the challenges of preserving those data sets is a worthy topic in and of itself.

But that may not actually be the full story.  There are types of analysis which can be performed using GIS which may be of interest to the information science world.  For example, if a library wishes to create a new branch it is possible to specify certain criteria and use that as the basis of a location study.  In fact that would, literally, be a textbook use case for GIS.   Spatial analysis might also yield unexpected insights.  For example studying the demographics of neighborhoods in which library branches are located has the potential to uncover new insights into why collections are used in a particular way or why certain materials are popular.  Budgets and collecting can then be adjusted accordingly.

Another candidate for use of GIS is historical data.   Often information collected in the past is represented only in paper form.  Even if said information has been put into a chart or a map, modern data analysis tools can produce more flexible and detailed outputs.  So an archive containing census records, for example, can put those from decades past into a database, use them to produce maps for exhibits, and then make the data set freely available in the same fashion as modern records.  Such efforts generally fall under the heading of Digital Humanities.  There are probably more interesting examples, but none come to mind.

Infrastructure too can benefit from GIS.  One possibility is to geolocate one's collections and feed GPS coordinates to patrons or staff searching for materials.  While the effort would be significant, organizations with large collections could see increased access to their holdings.  Those institutions with high density storage might also benefit since robots can receive such location data as well as humans.

As with all technology the key is in how you use it.  Geospatial Information Systems have many applicable uses.  We are all spatial creatures and so any way in which information can be displayed or analyzed based on location calls for GIS.  And such efforts might enable collaboration between organizations which might otherwise see themselves as separate.   Thus technology itself can help bind different branches of the information science profession together in new and novel ways,