Midterm

What is GIS and how did researchers use it in the context of this study?
How did researchers define neighborhoods?

GIS stands for Geographical Information System. It's the type of software used in this study to collect information about library service areas. The way it works is that information is collected about a specific area and recorded in the software by location. This makes it easier for researchers to break up their data into physical areas and also to locate physical divides within a community. It also allowed the researchers to analyze different service areas individually. Another purpose of the GIS software was to allow representation of the spatial access to a library. As noted in the study, "The smaller the size of a library service area, the more accessable the library branch would be to the residents in the area and vice versa."

The notions of space in the study were very important because they directly affected access to the library (see quote above).

Finally, the researchers defined a "neighborhood" as an individual local library service area.

**All of this information can be found on pages 451-452 of "The Library Quarterly" from the second week's reading.