FAQs

This Body of Knowledge (BoK) documents the domain of geographic information science and its associated technologies (GIS&T). In this new digital format, the BoK will be revised and updated on a continual basis. Authors will come from many diverse fields and will be recognized for their contributions through the peer-reviewed scholarly publication that each Topic will be. UCGIS aims to continue supporting the GIS&T higher education community and its connections with the practitioners, employers, and clients who comprise the increasingly diverse collection of GIS&T professions.
The content of this digital version has been built directly from the original GIS&T Body of Knowledge, which was published only in paper form. The original 2006 BoK had 329 Topics, organized into 73 Units and 10 Knowledge Areas. Among the 329 Topics there were over 1600 Learning Objectives listed. This entire collection is available here online as the Archived 2nd Quarter 2016 version, and a digital copy (pdf) of the original book can be downloaded too.  As of its initial launch in August 2016, we began this digital version of the BoK with 306 of the original Topics and their associated
This digital, online version of the GIS&T Body of Knowledge is built directly from the original, printed book version (published in 2006). The learning objectives were the only content provided in the original version, and those have all been maintained in this digital format. Now, each Topic - whether an original or new one - is being written in a more detailed and descriptive manner. Given the extensive nature of GIS&T BoK, it will take some time to complete this process.  Check out the home page to see what the latest topics are to be released. 
We are always interested in having subject-matter experts contribute their knowledge to the community. Please contact one of the Executive or Knowledge Area Editors to inquire about submitting an entry, and carefully read through the Editorial Policies to answer questions you may have about the process.
With a discipline as rapidly-evolving and maturing as ours, the collection of topics will require steady curation and development. If you are interested in sharing your feedback on a particular topic, please contact one of the Knowledge Area Editors or the topic's author. There are editorial policies in place to ensure that the content will be revisited on a regular basis. Every effort will be made to have the content be as current and accurate as it should be in this authoritative source of knowledge. 
Every entry has a unique name and associated uniform resource locator (URL) that is provided alongside the content itself. These will be updated to reference the Topic in its Archived versions as well. 
The purpose of the GIS&T BoK is not to replace any of the comprehensive reference books that have been published in the past;  there are roles for many reference collections. By having the GIS&T Body of Knowledge exist now only in digital form, UCGIS is able to ensure that the content can be updated on a more regular basis and be kept as current and thorough as possible. A digital format also allows for services such as text-based analysis. Open and online access will always allow a greater reach and extent than traditional book formats, and will enable multi-media content as well