Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Abstract
The Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) and its divisions, the Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois Natural History
Survey, Illinois State Water Survey, Hazardous Waste Research and
Information Center, Office of Research and Planning, and Illinois State
Museum, have been actively involved in the use and application of GIS
technology for over ten years. A significant result has been the development
of one of the most comprehensive spatial digital databases, at the
state level, anywhere in the country. In order to make this information
more accessible, many of ENR's statewide data sets were published on
CD-ROM in April 1994.
This publication is the first of its kind in the country from a state
perspective. It signifies technological advancement, but it also reflects
the evolution of an institutional attitude toward data, specifically that data
of this type are a resource to be shared and utilized by citizens and groups
with an interest and concern for Illinois, its people, and its resources.
This publication is intended to make this valuable and dynamic resource
more accessible and available to other state agencies, libraries, schools,
public interest groups, and the private sector. An anticipated effect will
be to increase knowledge and consideration of geography relative to the
state's people, resources, and related issues. Virtually all aspects of the
built and natural environments in which we live have spatial components.
The data contained on this CD-ROM provide a basis for integrating these
spatial components into research, education, and management.published or submitted for publicatio
