All things digital. Ten years in the geospatial time continuum

John A. Olson, Syracuse University, USA, talks about the changes in the method of working as map and GIS librarians. Macs were using OS (operating system) 9 in 2002, which was being replaced by the first version of OS X. HTML 4.0 was all the rage and Web pages were the new place to offer up datasets using the FTP protocol. For GIS software, ESRI was offering the user ArcView 3.2 and was introducing ArcView 8.1 to the world. The primary scripting language for ArcView users was AML. Other GIS software programs were evolving as well, including those with names such as GRASS 5.0, which was a free GIS software program. GPS are now integrated into desktop computers and laptops and are small enough to fit into, meaning as an integrated part of, smart phones and tablets as well as dozens of other things. Census maps can now be made from advanced software. Data gathered from specific locations can now be input, processed, and updated to large enterprise-level geodatabases and served out to the Web user in real time.