This guide enables students of human geography to take a critical look at the set of practices, hardware and software that are together described as GIS.

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• A guide to GIS for students of human geography.
  
• Outlines the distinct approaches to inquiry employed in GIS and illustrates their relevance for human geographers.
  
• Traces the history of GIS and human geography from 1970 to the present.
  
• Illustrates the challenges of data collection, classification in the context of multiple stakeholders and epistemological approaches.
  
• Tracks the use of GIS in applied contexts through the stages of problem definition, data acquisition and classification, choice of software, spatial analysis and graphic output.
  
• Includes an inventory of tools and information related to GIS, including web-based resources.
  
• Supported by a website, www.blackwellpublishing.com/schuurman.