A planning guide for GIS explains how to consider the strategic purpose of an organization to ensure that the GIS will work toward serving some useful and important purpose, with information on active participation in the planning process and early identification of the desired information output, practical techniques for gathering feedback from the organization, formalized approaches to needs assessment, data considerations, and the work of specifying hardware, software, and networking that will prove appropriate for the desired results. Covered in detail are topics such as system design, logical data models, and implementation planning.