Maps have long served as a means for presenting location-based information. However, since the advent of computerized geographic information systems in the 1960s, as well as the subsequent development of software and computing power, maps have become a much more widespread means for managing, analyzing and communicating geospatial information. The extensive demand for geographic information science skills has entailed a significant role for geography. Indeed, although geographic information science is a multi-disciplinary endeavor, geographers have produced the bulk of what now comprise the core knowledge areas of the field.

The Department of Geography at Ohio State has been at the forefront of geographic information science developments over the past 40 years. The department is ranked as one of the top five geography departments in the United States and is recognized globally as a leader in teaching and research in cartographic, spatial analytic and geographic information science.