ESRI Press Dictionary of GIS Terminology

Using geographic information systems (GIS), governemnt agencies are letting citizens see their neighbourhoods and communities with new eyes - letting them pan and zoom across city maps, choose from myriad layers of data, and combine those maps and layers for customized analysis. Their constitutents are using interactive GIS on the web to create their own crime maps, to compare property values, to find the nearest polling place, to assess environmental hazards, and to investigate in detail where the choicest economic development opportunities lie.