Rethinking Rights and Responsibilities in Geographic Information Systems: Beyond the Power of the Image

With respect to the practice of geography and of science more generally, geographic information systems raise fundamental questions concerning rights and responsibilities. On the one hand, the systems appear both to support and to appeal to a traditional view or image of science. On the other hand, the size and complexity of the systems undercuts traditional ways of thinking about those issues, and appears to require new ways of thinking. Yet there are certain features of the systems that make this rethinking more difficult. The article analyzes this traditional image of science, points to suggested alternatives, and characterizes those features of science and geographic information systems that will make more difficult the development of an alternative.