The Evolution of GIS Services within North American Academic Libraries: Documenting Change through the Decades (1995–2016)

Abstract

This review was conducted to identify articles written about Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services offered in the United States (US) and Canadian university and college libraries. In the early 1990's, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) GIS Literacy Project, in partnership with Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), helped enable ARL member libraries to create GIS services within their libraries. By the mid to late 1990's, librarians from academic institutions began to write articles that discussed how their library developed GIS services and the components involved with operating a GIS service. Writing about GIS services in academic libraries continued on into the 2000's and 2010's. This review of the literature will document the areas of staffing, service, technology, and data provision for GIS service units from three decades (1990's, 2000's, and 2010's).