The Importance of Geographic Information Systems for Geography Programs in Higher Education

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has provided substantial advantages to geography departments in many countries. As seen in developed countries such as the USA and Canada, GIS not only contributed to academic studies at geography departments by equipping academicians with an important research tool, but also provided students with necessary knowledge, skills, and experience on GIS which help them find jobs more easily after graduation. The picture is very different in Turkey. In Turkey, GIS has started finding a place in geography departments after the late 1990s. However, the present situation in Turkey reveals that many geography departments lack of a GIS laboratory and do not offer any GIS course in their programs. In this case, the advantages of GIS are not utilized properly by geography departments in the country. In this study, first the advantages of GIS to geographers and geography students were discussed by giving examples mainly from the USA and then some recommendations were made about how to utilize these advantages in Turkey.