Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Decision-Support Tools For Transferring Am/Fm/Gis To Small Communities, Steven W. Mccrary, Colin Othniel Benjamin, Peter J. Schmidt

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper examines several decision-support tools for transferring AM/FM/GIS technology to small communities. The term Computer-Assisted Spatial Information Systems (CASIS) provides a basis for a systematic categorization and definition of AM/FM/GIS systems that will serve to enhance small communities' understanding of these technologies for future decisions. The acronym CASIS includes such areas as database-management systems, automated mapping/facilities management/geographic information systems (AM/FM/GIS), and computer-aided drafting (CAD). Further, this paper reports the highlights of a survey that assesses the theory-practice gap in AM/FM/GIS usage among very small local government agencies. The survey uncovered an existing theory-practice gap: A, slow rate of system …