INTRODUCTION
From the early days of digital cartography until the mid-1990’s, geographic information system (GIS)
technology was used mostly by professionals in resource management, earth science, cartography, and
similar disciplines. Digital cartographic data have tended to be relatively complex, the formats
nonstandard, and application software expensive and complicated.
Through the 1980’s, neither GIS software nor data were friendly to personal computer (PC) environments.
Common PC hardware was too weak to handle large data sets, and the DOS and early Windows operating
systems did not adequately support graphics programming.
Digital mapping therefore required powerful scientific computers, advanced software, and specialized
knowledge. This changed rather suddenly in the mid-1990’s with the release of Windows 95. By late 1996,
GIS graphic applications and desktop PC’s that could handle large data sets were becoming common. At
the same time, use of the Internet was increasing rapidly. These technical trends combined to change the
environment of Government data production and distribution.