With support from Esri and the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS), the Association of American Geographers (AAG) has reprinted 2,000 copies of Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge (BoK).

"The BoK is a very important reference book about the geospatial field and is immensely useful to educators," says Michael Goodchild, professor emeritus of geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "I'm excited that the AAG, Esri, and UCGIS have come together to make it widely available and easily accessible."

Originally published in 2006, the BoK is the first comprehensive attempt to inventory the knowledge and abilities that comprise the field of geospatial technology. Building on the efforts of Duane Marble, Professor Emeritus of Geography at The Ohio State University, and colleagues to develop a model curriculum for geographic information science and technology education, the UCGIS Education Committee (with support from Esri and AAG) organized contributions from more than 70 GIS scholars and practitioners to produce the book.

AAG will distribute these new copies at no charge to attendees at its national events in 2013. Esri is also providing a free downloadable version of the book at esri.com/gist-bok.

"Esri is pleased to support the reprinting and open access distribution of the BoK," says David DiBiase, Esri director of education and lead editor. "We look forward to broad community participation in the development of a second edition."

UCGIS researchers are currently working on National Science Foundation-funded research to develop an interactive version of the second edition of the book.

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