Geographic Information System Essay Example for Free

Geographic Information System Essay A Geographic Information system or a GIS is a tool to capture, store and managing data which are spatially related to Earth. In close terms, the system is related to managing, integrating, storing and analyzing geographically referenced information. Geographic Information system is used in the process of scientific research, natural resource management, impact of pollution on environment, land use and planning, company sales and marketing and criminology. For example, Geographic Information system is often used energy planners who need to calculate the emergency response times during an emergency like a natural disaster. Also, Geographic Information system is used to find the areas that are affected by pollution – wet lands or used by companies to take advantage of an untapped economy or an unreserved market. HISTORY OF GIS The first use of a Geographic Information system is that recorded in 1854, by Sir John Snow. In the event of Cholera outbreak in London, he used a map which directed signs towards the individual cases of cholera in the city. This study which helped the administration to reach to the source of the outbreak, which was an infected water pump. After knowing the root cause of the outbreak, immediate steps were taken by the administration. This strategy of John Snow to collect all the information about the cholera cases in the city on a geographical map of the city and then to analyze the information at hand, thereby reaching at some conclusions that were helpful in fighting with the outbreak is the true essence of a Geographic Information system. Fig 1: Map showing clusters of Cholera cases in London by John Snow In the year 1962, the true face of Geographic Information system came into existence with the Federal Department of Rural development in Canada. The first Geographic Information system was developed by Dr. Roger Tomlinson, and was to help the Land inventory department to gather and analyze information related to the land use and capability, soil structure and forest area in Ontario. This system possessed some enhanced features like – mapping, overlaying, measurement, scaling and scanning. It also had a co-ordinate system that could inter relate every other part of the continent and could scale huge areas into very small ones. The use of overlays in extending the method of spatial analysis of geographical data was also included in this first Geographic Information system. However, this Geographic Information system was never brought out into the market for commercialization purposes. The first commercial Geographic Information system was developed during the late 1980’s by the MS Computing research Institute and this commercial Geographic Information system had a successful combination of the first Geographic Information system developed in 1962 by Sir John Snow. It had the technique of spatial attribution, and organizing of data with the help of database structures. With the onset of the 20th century, there was a fast growth in the development of commercial Geographic Information systems to transport, gather and analyze data in all commercial fields. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of free open source commercial Geographic Information systems which can be used in accordance with a number of operating systems and can also be customized top match up some specific tasks. DATA CREATION IN GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM The Geographic Information Systems that exist today make use of the information that is present in the digital form. The methods of data creation for a Geographic Information system are many and the most commonly accepted method for data creation of digital data is digitization. In this method, Computer aided design method is used to transfer the data present on a hard copy, into a digital form, and geo-referencing capabilities. Another popular form of extracting geographical data into digital form is by ortho-rectified imagery, in which head up digitizing is the main way through which tracing of geographical data is done directly rather than traditionally tracing the geographical data on a different digitizing tablet. LINKING INFORMATION FROM VARIOUS ORIGINS With the help of Geographic Information Systems, a myriad of information gathering is possible. Suppose for example, if the rainfall data about a particular state and its aerial snaps or the area are gathered, then it relatively easier to predict the area which dries up during summer. A Geographic Information Systems can make use of various forms of information by linking them together and analyzing the whole bunch together. The elementary requirement for knowing the exact source of data is the knowledge of variables. The location of a certain area is denoted by x,y,z coordinates, where x corresponds to Longitude, y corresponds to latitude and z corresponds to elevation. These values may vary according to the needs and types of data required. A Geographic Information System is capable of changing any form of digital data into usable form that is recognized by the system and is used. For instance, the satellite images that are generated with the help of remote sensing satellites are processed by a Geographic Information System to corresponding map like information which can be easily read by the Geographic Information System. Similarly, the hydrologic tabular data in the tabular form can be converted into a data map, which is used as layers of information in a Geographic Information System. DATA REPRESENTATION The Geographic Information System offers the presentation of real time objects like land, roads, height etc, in the digital form. However, the real time data is further divided into two types: discrete and continuous data. Discrete data includes data like a building, area of land, while continuous data represents level of rain, height of a particular area, or elevation. There are two main methods of storing data in a Geographic Information System for both discrete and continuous forms. 1. Raster method – this form of data is stored in the form of cell rows and cell columns, where a single value data is stored in each cell. Since raster is used to store a single data, in each cell, continuous forms of data an extended table of more than one row or column is used. 2. Vector Method – in a Geographic Information System, it is often needed to express data in the form of vectors. In order to store data which possesses some sort of direction, use of polygons is made in the Geographic Information Systems. These polygons or geometrical shapes are also called as Shape files. Zero dimensional points, one dimensional lines, two dimensional polygons are some examples of shape files used in Geographic Information Systems. Points are used to denote real time objects like location of a school, building, home, well etc. lines are used to denote roads, railway lines, rivers etc. polygons are used to point to an area of land, city boundaries, water bodies etc. Each of these geometric shapes / geometries are associated with single rows in the database of the Geographic Information System, and this describes their characteristics completely. For example, consider a Geographic Information System data base that gives information about the various lakes in a particular area, their depth, and quality of water, color of water and the level of pollutants that are mixed with water. These sets of information can be each used separately to make a map to describe that particular data set. Also, the Geographic Information Systems can be used to identify and locate the wells that are present in the area, in particular that are within the one mile area of the lake. The wells are identified as point geometry and the lakes as polygon geometry in the Geographic Information System data map sets. Vector characteristics in a Geographic Information System data set can also be altered to maintain the spatial characteristic or integrity of a particular data / location, with the application of certain topology rules. A simple basic rule used in Geographic Information Systems is that the polygons must never overlap each other. The vector data sets can be appropriately used to represent the continuous data sets or continuously varying information. The contour lines and triangulated discontinuous areas and networks are used to characterize the elevation / height above sea level and other examples of continuous values. The triangulated discontinuous areas record the values of a point location which are in the form of a mesh formed with the help of lines connected from each other signifying other areas and point locations. For example, the face of a mesh in the form of a triangle is used to represent the terrain surface in Geographic Information Systems.

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Traveling around the world can open your eyes to many new discoveries. Jonathan Swift was a well-known author during the 1600 and 1700’s. Many of Swift’s pieces were based on his experiences during his travels. â€Å"For most general readers, the name Jonathan Swift is associated only with his satiric masterpiece Gulliver's Travels. They are not aware that, in addition to it and hundreds of poems, he wrote a great deal of nonfictional prose, much of it of considerable interest, significance, and excellence† (Schakel). As a child, â€Å"Swift grew up fatherless and dependent on the generosity of his uncle† (â€Å"Jonathan Swift†). Jonathan was born in 1667 in Dublin, Ireland. According to â€Å"The Early Life and Education of Jonathan Swift† his father died in 1667 before Jonathan was born. Jonathan’s mother felt very strongly about her son’s education. â€Å"At the age of six he was sent to Kilkenny School, then the best in Ireland† (â€Å"Jonathan Swift†). â€Å"Swift continued in residence at Trinity College as a candidate for his masters of arts degree until February 1689. The Roman Catholic disorders began to spread through Dublin after the Glorious Revolution, causing Swift to seek security in England with a distant relative named Sir William Temple, at Moor Park.† (â€Å"Jonathan Swift†). As stated in â€Å"Jonathan Swift† Temple was engaged in writing memoirs and preparing essays for publication, and Swift acted as h is secretary. Swift gained much knowledge while he was with Temple by reading many books from Temple’s vast library. This is when Jonathan really became interested in writing. â€Å"Between 1691 and 1694 Swift wrote a number of poems and between 1696 and 1699 he turned to prose and wrote some of his most famous works such as A Tale of a Tub† (â€Å"Jonathan ... ...an Swift Biography†) â€Å"The closing years of Swift’s life have been the subject of some misrepresentation, and stories have been told of his ungovernable temper and lack of self-control† (â€Å"Jonathan Swift†). Jonathan Swift lived a long 78 years, he died on October 19, 1745. â€Å"He is said to have suffered what is known to have been Meniere’s Disease, an affliction of the semicircular canals of the ears† (â€Å"Jonathan Swift†). In 1742 he was declared incapable of caring for himself, and guardians were appointed, according to the article â€Å"Jonathan Swift†. â€Å"Later that year (1742) he suffered from a stroke and lost the ability to speak† (â€Å"Jonathan Swift Biography†). In 1745, Swift was â€Å"laid to rest next to Esther Johnson inside of Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral† (â€Å"Jonathan Swift Biography†). After living his long life Swift said â€Å"No wise man ever wished to be younger.â € 

Human resources are how a business recruits Essay

Human resources are how a business recruits, retains and manages key features and functions of their employees. If businesses are to obtain their objectives, they must plan their human resources function so they have the right number of employees with the right kinds of qualifications and training to meet the needs of the business. Human resources use different approaches to all the different aspects of human resource planning and management. Human resource planning Businesses have to plan carefully to ensure that they have the right number of suitable employees for their needs. To do this they need a good understanding of the labour market in the areas where they operate. Human resource planning also involves looking at how labour is organised within the business. A range of factors when making decisions about staffing from the labour market includes; * Labour turnover * Sickness and accident rates * Age, Skills and Training * Succession In an ideal world businesses should plan ahead when it comes to human resources. A well-organised business will have forecasts and projections of its future staffing needs. These will then be matched to forecasts and projections about the local labour market, which means that the business can develop appropriate strategies for the recruitment, training and development of its staff. Recruitment and selection Recruitment and selection is a well-worn topic, which is treated fully in all major texts. There is always a tension between getting the right person for a job and how much resource in terms of time and money is devoted to recruitment. Businesses recruit staff for a variety of reasons. These can include: * The growth or reconstruction of the business * Changing job roles within a business * Filling vacancies created by resignation, retirement and dismissal * Internal promotion The recruitment process can be costly, in terms of resources devoted to the process and costs associated with recruiting poor performing staff. Therefore, it is important to select accurately people for interview. Businesses need to be very clear about the requirements of the job and about the kind of person they are looking for. This is done in several ways; * Preparing person specifications and job descriptions * Carefully planning how, when and where to advertise * Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of job applications, curriculum vitae and letters of application * Short-listing candidates Training and development Training and development are currently big issues for many businesses in most parts of the country, especially where there are low rates of unemployment. Moreover, more and more businesses are realising that if they fail to invest in training and development they will become uncompetitive. Training and development includes the following; * Induction training * Mentoring * Coaching * Apprenticeships * In-House training * External Training * Recognition of prior learning (RPL) and/or accreditation of prior learning (APL) and accreditation of prior experience and learning (APEL). Performance management Performance management refers to different strategies designed to get the best of a business work force. Different techniques are employed which attempt to relate performance with pay, or promotion or training. Such schemes are not always popular with workers. The following are methods that businesses use to manage the performance of their employees; * Performance reviews including appraisals * Self-evaluation * Peer evaluation * Target setting of individuals and groups. The labour Market Sainsburys constantly monitor the labour market to see any trends in each sector. They use local and national surveys to gather this information. Information gathered is them allocated to the departments that it would suit the best and what people are looking for. For example Sainsburys may be looking for trained bakers and fishmongers, as it is a rare profession. They may also look to see if anyone may reach this profession with a small amount of training, they may investigate if the opportunity cost of training them is viable. If Sainsburys needed a fishmonger and there was one available then they would have to pay them a decent amount of money to be able to acquire their services. This is because they are quite rare to find and may easily be coaxed into another job with money. They may also try to keep these professionals for a long time in one store so that the job in done with consistency. As sainsburys require a high standard they may send them to an off site training course to build up their knowledge of a certain area. Changing features in the market trends makes it hard for firms such as Sainsburys to find the staff they want for specific hi-skilled jobs. This may because there is an increase in professional and managerial work and a decrease in unskilled and semi-skilled work. Also people such as Bakers may have learnt new skills to enter different sections of the labour market. For example a Baker may have had enough of his job, taken an evening class in management, gained qualifications other than baking and joined a more managerial part of the team. Sainsburys need to look hard at the staff they acquire from agencies and applications and think hard about if it would be worth training them up for a specific job. They have to pick them up at exactly the right time. This means that they have to get them before they go elsewhere but have to be wary of them getting trained at great expense to sainsburys and then leaving for a job with better job satisfaction or better money. They have t get the balance just right unless it could prove costly. If Sainsburys employ new staff they may have to restructure the departments, this may prove popular with some staff but unpopular with others. Sainsburys have to think about management structures becoming flatter as a result of greater development of responsibilities and how hierarchies are being replaced by team working. Demographics show that the UK workforce is aging. This can be taken as a good aspect but also as a bad one. Some advantages of having an ageing workforce are that: * They know their job inside out and know how to deal with certain situations. * They have plenty of experience and may be able to offer light on problems which younger staff may have never encountered before. * It may be more reassuring to the customer to see an well experienced person doing the job rather then a young face straight out of school. Some disadvantages of having an ageing workforce are that: * As people get older they may be more susceptible to illness and take more time off. * With new computer equipment they may have to be sent on an expensive training course to learn new ways of working. * They may not be as motivated as younger staff as they are happy with their jobs and realise that they may not be doing it much longer. They may also not want to go for promotions, as they do not want to be bothered with the stress of the modern workplace. There is a steady decline in Primary and manufacturing sectors and an increase in service sector employment. This may work in sainsburys favour as they have positions for all sorts of people in all different sectors. There are a lot of people wanting to do the jobs where you do not need as much experience such as till manning and shelf stacking but they also have room for people with experience such as the butchers and bakers. As there is such a lot of people wanting to take on the less experience needed jobs the employees in these positions have to try and make a good impression and try hard as they know that there is always someone around the corner waiting for their job. This may boost Sainsburys productivity and customer relations. There are increasing numbers of women being qualified in previously ‘mans work’. More and more women are being trained as butchers and fishmongers. Women are now holding more high skilled positions now also, for example it would not be uncommon to ask to see the manager and a women to walk out and speak to you. This may seem strange to older generations who may still believe that it should be a mans job. The education and training system is undergoing a change. There has been a major expansion in further and higher education and the development of more flexible vocational training structures. This allows more part-time and mature students to gain higher qualifications. This may also allow them to train whilst working, improving there skills for an in-house vacancy. Part-time students make up a large proportion of Sainsburys workforce. This is because they can work flexible hours and are willing to learn. They may also not mind doing low skilled jobs as they need the money and know that they may not be doing that job forever as they are studying at a high level, having these people on their books may be an advantage to Sainsburys as if they are good they may placed in the running for higher positions. When they finish their higher education weather it be A-Levels or Degree they may give them a chance to move up the ladder. This may seem promising to the employee who already has friends there and knows the set up. They may also like it as it saves them the hassle of finding a completely new job. The sectors that are forecast to expand are those, which have grown since the early 1980s. The exception is construction, where employment is forecast to fall 4.2%. The largest absolute increase in employment is in public services. The majority of new jobs are to be in education and health, which is an area, which has seen significant growth since the early 1980s. Financial and Business services are expected to show the fastest percentage growth. Business services are expected to be the strongest performer in this sector with employment growth at 2.5% per year whilst a fall is forecast in financial services. Manufacturing is set to see further productivity gains, which may lead to falls in unemployment. Norwich’s Economy * One third of all the jobs in Norfolk are within the Norwich city council area. This totals up to 94,000 people. * Half the jobs in Norfolk are within the greater Norwich area. Employment in Norwich has grown over the last 6 years, but more slowly than the UK as a whole. * Over 90% of Norwich companies employ less than 50 people but over half of the Norwich workforce are employed in the 66 largest companies and organisations such as Norwich Union and Mash. * More than 50,000 people travel into Norwich each day to work, from the surrounding area. * The average earnings of full-time employees in Norwich (Excluding overtime) are just over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10 per hour, which is below the national average of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½11.18 per hour. * Between 1995 and 2000 employment grew fastest in financial services, public sector and construction. * In the next few years most jobs are likely to be created within Norwich in business services, hotels and catering, retailing, banking and insurance and construction. There will be a long-term demand for construction skills creating sustainable jobs. * Tourism is growing fast and currently provides 5,600 jobs in Norwich Trends in employment 1997-2007(predictions) 1997 2007 Increasing involvement of Women Female share of total employment 46.5% 48.2% Female share of employees in employment 49.7% 51.7% More Working part-time Part-time share of employees in employment 29.1% 31.2% More self-employed Self employed share of total employment 13.0% 15.2% Supply and Demand graph for Wage Rates S WR1 WR = Wage Rate Sk = Skills WR D2 D Sk Sk1 As you can see as the demand for high skilled people goes up so does the wages they will be getting paid. Supply of Labour S2 S WR = Wage WR2 Rate L = Labour WR D L2 L If the supply of labour decreases then the wage rate will increase. Minimum Wage rate S WR2 WR1 D Q2 Q1 If a minimum wage is introduced which is higher than the wage rate the demand for labour falls Training and Development The aim of training a person is to permanently change their ability. Improving their knowledge, experience and skills does this. To start you off at Sainsburys you are given an induction. This tells you the basics of your job and allows you to do it. Induction programmes are designed to familiarise new recruits with the layout, security systems and about health and safety within the company. To inspire new recruits they may be introduced to key personnel. Sainsburys hold policy interviews, one review happens at 3 weeks, one at 7 weeks and then again at 11 weeks. Sainsburys holds in-house training and coaching in each branch. They also have a ‘How well and I doing?’ handbook which they give to each employee. This can map out paths and set targets, different for each section on the company. The targets set are: * Measurable * Specific * Time-related * Agreed * Realistic These are set at 6-month periods. The workbooks, which are used for technical training, coach trainees on a specific part of their job. They help them understand what they have got to do and how they have got to do it. For example training for a checkout operator may be given on a dummy checkout and they on a real one serving customers but with supervision. Each store trains its own staff at their job; training centres are used for external training, which may be specific to a person’s job such as health and safety or food hygiene. These parts of training may also involve passing an exam and gaining a qualification. The in store training organiser may not be qualified to teach this. External training may also occur when the trainee is learning a specialist subject. For example a fishmonger may be sent to a special training-centre especially for fishmongers. I believe that Sainsburys send their head fishmongers to a centre in London. Sainsburys also has a training room where training videos are shown to trainees. These may be in general subjects such as customer relations. This is very handy as videos can be shown to a trainee as many times as it takes and at very little cost. Also the audience can be selected and many trained at a time. Sainsburys also has a computer on which there are training programs, these give training and also provide a test, which they have to pass.

The Slavery Of The United States - 953 Words

Every country has a dark past, whether it’s about conquering land from Native Americans, or mass genocide of a single race. The United States was no different from the rest of the world, especially when slavery was involved. The South had its reasons on why to establish and justify the slavery system while the North rejected their beliefs. By focusing on the South’s argument, this will help to understand why they fought for their rights to keep slaves and understand how the African Americans were able to keep their dignity, have identity, and freedom. The South thrived on the fertile plantation for many centuries. Here, there were able to mass produced large amounts of raw material with the most sufficient and free labor of all, slaves. The United States and many countries around the world relied on cheap labor to bring sufficient profits for the lowest dollar. The slave trade in The U.S. was no different from the rest of the world, slaves for money or goods and deals w ere set. The South was very big in the slave trade, because of how free and sufficient the workforce of slavery is. The South has a strong foothold on slavery, and because of this they had a type of racial hierarchy. This racial hierarchy brought about a legit argument to why the South should keep slaves. In lecture we talked about how the South used a type of false propaganda and accusation in where they feed and shelter the slaves and make them sound like they are the quote on quote good people of theShow MoreRelatedSlavery And The United States891 Words   |  4 PagesThe Unites States during the 1850s was a harsh time for African Americans, not only were they treated extremely harsh; but many of them were slaves as well. Slavery was the topic of every discussion during this time period and the United States was literally split on the issue of slavery. A lot of the Southern States wanted to continue slavery because it was a way of life. Many of the southerners depend on slavery to help grow and harvest crops that were on acres and acres of land. Northerns, onRead MoreThe Slavery Of The United States1449 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"Slavery is founded on the selfishness of man’s nature; opposition to it on his love for justice.† This saying by Abraham Lincoln tells us that people are really different when it comes to their beliefs and attitudes. Some are so focused on wealth, which is why they have slaves to work for free, and treated them as properties instead of real human beings. On the other hand, some people were against slavery because it violated the basic human rights like the right to life, liberty, and security.Read MoreSlavery And The United States848 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States. During these years, many different topics were up for dispute and compromises were being negotiated. Unfortunately, it was hard for all of the citizens to come to a complete compromise for the disputes. Some states had similar opinions, while ot hers were in a deadlock. One of the biggest disputes during this time were over slavery. While other disputes only involved a few states, slavery was a dispute that caused unrest between two distinctive regions in the United States: theRead MoreThe Slavery Of The United States1095 Words   |  5 Pagesattempted to cure their complete opposition on the regulation of slavery by using federal power to coerce an end to the feud, yet the movement increased tension between the divided nation. By invoking both legislative and judicial power, politicians used laws which included slave codes and freedom laws as well as court decisions like Dred Scott v Sandford (1875) to convince or force the population into acceptance of stances on slavery. Each party viewed their tactics and ideas to be righteous, andRead MoreSlavery And The United States1305 Words   |  6 PagesSlavery; An Issue Neglected to a Key Principle in the U.S. For 20 years slavery had existed in the United States of America despite its immorality and the objections of many citizens. Strides were made to correct this injustice around the time of the Revolutionary war; colonists started to demand their natural human rights from Britain. In 1766, our founding fathers were the first faced with a decision to abolish slavery; they felt the pressure from facing the purpose of their campaign due to theRead MoreSlavery And The United States1507 Words   |  7 PagesOver the centuries, slavery held a prominent factor in United States history. Slavery shaped and formed what society was in the United States. Slavery’s influence impacted the United States in various ways. The ways that slavery impacted United States history are the United States economy, society and politics. Some historians argue slavery is not an important factor in United States history. However, they are wrong because slavery brought many different political movements and t he Underground RailroadRead MoreThe Slavery Of The United States976 Words   |  4 PagesSlavery has played a very integral part in the development of the United States so far. It has taught people the importance of racial equality and moral discipline, which was lacked back in the time when slavery existed. Moreover, slaves were used mostly by farmers and business owners who wanted to maximize their profits and wanted cheap sources of labor. Slaves were first imported into the United States back in 1502 by a merchant named; Juan de Cà ³rdoba. The South was very interested in bringingRead MoreSlavery And The United States1673 Words   |  7 Pageshowever, when slavery existed, blacks were undermined and denied many freedoms entitled to them under the Constitution. There were many topics argued about, but slavery caused the most dispute within the country. In the 1850’s, the pro-slavery South and the anti-slavery North collided when the case of Dred Scott, a black slave who attempted to gain liberation, was brought to court. The North and South had vastly different views on the subject of slavery, Scott had resided in the free state of IllinoisRead MoreThe Slavery Of The United States1670 Words   |  7 Pageswedge between the nation. As the United States progressed into different industries, slavery benefited only one side of the country – the south. The north began outlawing slavery, deeming it as immoral and unconstitutional while the south needed and depended on slavery to maintain their economy. The opposing sides on the slave system lead to arguments between the North and the South as to decide what new territories would allow slavery, then leading on to outlawing slavery all together. Tensions increasedRead MoreSlavery Of The United States1528 Words   |  7 PagesSlavery in the United States The use of African American slaves began in the Mid-17th century. According to the U.S. Census of 1790, the United States had a population of 3.8 million people; from which 700,000 of them were slaves, that is 18 percent of the entire population. The state of Virginia had the largest population of slaves. Virginia alone had 300,000 slaves. In South Carolina, 43 percent of the entire population was slaves ( Zambelli). It all makes sense because in the year of 1790, the