Use and Users of GI

It will be no news to you, readers of GIM International, that there is a growing interest in use, users and usability within the realm of geo-information acquisition, processing, management and dissemination. The ICA has responded to this by establishing a new Working Group on Use and User Issues. Some thirty people interested in this met during the ICA conference in A Coruña, Spain on 13th July 2005 and agreed on the following terms of reference for the period 2005-2007.

• Set up an on-line bibliographical database. The main categories in this bibliography are the user, usability (user-centred design and methods and techniques of evaluation/testing) and improvement of user abilities.
  
• Set up a forum on the Web to exchange knowledge and information.
  
• Set up a database of individuals working on or with expertise in the various use and user issues and denote it with keywords to stimulate exchange of information.
  
• Foster publications on use and user issues in cartography and geo-information processing and dissemination.
  
• Organise a workshop or seminar in 2006.
  
• Promote sessions on use and user issues at ICC 2007 in Moscow, August 2007.

Although the Working Group operates under the umbrella of the International Cartographic Association, the subject of study is certainly not just map use. The scope is much broader: it also includes use, users and usability of, for instance, hardware, software and information systems, interfaces, geographic data and databases.

In the meantime, work has started on:

• establishing a dynamic mailing list of people interested in contributing to the activities of the Working Group; if you want to be added to it, email to address below
  
• designing a website http://kartoweb.itc.nl/icawguse/
  
• categorisation required for bibliographical database tested by asking WG members to submit key references
  
• organising a seminar; of several options the Annual Symposium of the British Cartographic Society appeared the most realistic opportun-ity for hosting a seminar: 7th to 10th September 2006 in Manchester, UK and the organisers have reserved half a day for presentations on use and user issues, arranged with the help of the Working Group
  
• arranging other ad hoc meetings at other conferences and symposia (e.g. Association of Polish Cartographers (Wroclaw, 23th to 25th November 2006); GICON 2006 (Vienna, 10th to 14th July 2006); Intercarto 12 (Berlin, 28th to 30th August 2006); GIScience (Münster, 20th to 23rd September 2006)).
  

  
  If you are interested in the activities of this new ICA Working Group, please contact ITC, Department of Geo-Information Processing, P. O. Box 6, 7500 AA Enschede, The Netherlands, e-mail: elzakker@itc.nl