You are here

Glossary of Terms


Chattel (Merriam-Webster Online)
"An item of tangible movable or immovable property except real estate, freehold, and things (as buildings) connected with real property."

Geoslavery
Geoslavery is the condition wherein one member (the “master”) dominates another member (the “slave”) in terms of spatial freedom. As Dobson and Fisher (2003) define it, “Geoslavery is...a practice in which one entity, the master, coercively or surreptitiously monitors and exerts control over the physical location of another individual, the slave.”

GIS
GIS stands for geographic information systems. A GIS uses computers and software to leverage the fundamental principle of geography. Geography is information about the earth’s surface and the objects found on it. Location is important in geography in terms of the earth’s structure and human live. The knowledge of the interactions is the foundation of GIS data. GIS is a technology that is used to view and analyze data from a geographic perspective. GIS links the location information (people and addresses, buildings to parcels, species to habitat) and layers that information to give a better understanding of how it all relates (ESRI).

For example if one wanted to analysis the population density of snowy owls in a given area in California, a GIS data set could be made to include the topography of the area, the rivers and streams, the vegetation coverage, wildlife in the area, and so on. Each piece of information could be in a different layer. When specific things need to be highlighted, layers would be turned off or on depending on what is needed for that analysis. When everything comes together, a visual representation is made of the area reflecting the information that has been selected. This is very useful for business, government, and researchers. Almost every aspect of society are employing GIS data sets for information analysis.

GISci
GISci stands geographic information science. Since GIS has exploded in its applications, so has the educational arena in trying to stay on top of producing enough qualified individuals to produce and analysis the magnitude of information that can be placed into a GIS database. GISci is an interdisciplinary field of study involving GIS technology, but also remote sensing, cartography, surveying, spatial statistics, computer science and other related fields. With regard to GIS it is often referred to as the “science behind the systems” or the “science done with the systems.” Some educational institutions offer GISci as an undergraduate degree, some as an area of focus within a bachelor or masters degree program. There are also certificate programs that a GIS specialist can apply for. There is debate within the field currently as to the need for a GIS certificate, and to which GIS certificate is the most valuable one to have.

Human Trafficking: (Wikipedia - there is not yet an entry for this term in dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster)
"Trafficking in human beings includes recruiting, harbouring, obtaining, and transporting persons by use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjecting them to involuntary acts, such as commercial sexual exploitation (including prostitution) or involuntary labour, i.e., enslaving them. Human trafficking is the trade of human beings and their use by criminals to make money. This often means forcing or tricking people into prostitution, begging, or labor in sweatshops, domestic servitude and manual labour."


Location-Based Services (from UCGIS white paper)
"Location-based services (LBS) - sometimes called location-based mobile services (LBMS) – are an emerging technology combining ... hardware devices and wireless communication networks with geographic information and software applications to provide location-related guidance for customers. It differs from mobile position determination systems, such as global positioning systems (GPS), in that LBS provide much broader application- oriented location services, such as: entering address to desired destination (geocoding); Subscriber wishes to start from their current position and add one stop along the way (gateway); determining the route (route determination)."


Slavery (Merriam-Webster Online)
"1: submission to a dominating influence; 2 a: the state of a person who is chattel of another; b: the practice of slaveholding.

or from Wikipedia:
"Slavery is a condition whereby one person, known as a slave, is under the control of another. Slavery almost always occurs for the purpose of securing the labour or sexual availability of the slave."

Back to Top | Home