The Power of GIS

Planner puts the power of GIS to work throughout your public library organization. GIS is a superior technology for visualizing data, analyzing content, making findings, communicating recommendations, and managing knowledge.

GIS is a powerful method to visualize and analyze data that is impossible to do with tables and spreadsheets alone. GIS projects tabular data spatially by latitude and longitude, providing unprecedented accuracy. GIS abstracts the real world into layers, each of which can be viewed independently and in relation to each other. Spatial projection of data allows us to analyze geographic characteristics to reveal trends, patterns, and opportunities that are otherwise hidden in the tables and spreadsheets.

The resulting maps are powerful visual analysis tools. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Only by using GIS-based technology can a librarian visually analyze the relationships between library data and demographic, geographic, and school data in order to deliver more effective services to their constituents.

Because Planner is accessed through your web browser you don't need to buy GIS software or become a GIS expert. Behind the scenes, Planner operates on a robust platform utilizing Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system and SQL Server 2000, and ESRI's industry-leading GIS software. CIVICTechnologies is an authorized ESRI Business Partner. Public and academic libraries throughout North America and Europe know ESRI as the leading GIS software for research, teaching, and collections. Planner is hosted by Metropolis New Media, Inc. in a high bandwidth network environment with 99.9% uptime and 24/7 monitoring.

GIS Software Platform

ArcGIS > is the platform technology used in Planner. ArcGIS integrates the geographic extent of your library's administrative boundaries with other information by building spatial datasets that are distributed over the Internet to your desktop computer. ArcGIS is an integrated system for geographic data creation, management, integration, and analysis.

ArcIMS > serves map images to the end-user based upon their unique request such as which layers to turn on and off and what extent of the map to show. ArcIMS distributes the GIS data and services across the Internet in a multi-customer, multi-user environment. It provides secure access to map services to protect data integrity and is highly scalable so that Planner can grow to meet the needs of all its customers.

ArcSDE > manages spatial data in a relational database management system and stores the spatial data required by ArcIMS. ArcSDE enables Planner to integrate tabular data stored in Microsoft SQL Server with the spatial component, and then serves it to user's web browser through ArcIMS. The ArcSDE infrastructure manages multiple customers with robust performance, enables data updates, and provides an application programming interface to extend Planner capabilities.