SPATIAL INFORMATION-SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION INTEGRATION

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software today provides decision makers and land administrators with geometric and descriptive data man agement and processing tools. The benefits from these tools in an orga nization need no longer be demonstrated However, descriptive and geome tric forms are far from the only forms in which information can be rep resented Their use allows only a partial modeling of the wealth of inf ormation in the real world This paper consists of a reflection on the problem of integrating information in a GIS. The current situation as well as varied approaches possible for this integration are described This is a starting point for the creation of a coherent framework in w hich diverse research efforts on modeling and representing spatial kno wledge can take place. The accent is placed on the notion of referenti al representation (for example: spatial, schematic, descriptive) and o n the necessity of this type of references to complete conceptual mode ling from a developer's view of a GIS application integrating informat ion We present many examples in which the use of different ''represent ation referencing schemes'' is necessary for management and planning. These include traffic management, electrical engineering, geography. F inally, an example illustrates some partial solutions.