ITHACA, N.Y. -- To help Cornell University celebrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day 2003, John Cloud, a geographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C., will speak on "Layered Truths: Uncovering the Complex Histories of Geographic Information Systems," Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 2 p.m. on the second floor of the university's Albert R. Mann Library on campus. It is free and open to the public.

Cloud will explain how GIS emerged and discuss the cartography it displaced. Also, he will examine how the history of GIS will contribute to the use of the system in future applications.

In addition to the lecture, Mann Library's second floor will feature a map gallery and poster session, Nov. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. Local organizations, companies, vendors and Cornell researchers will showcase their GIS-related work. Participants will include the U.S. Geological Survey, MapInfo, the city of lthaca, Cornell's departments of City and Regional Planning and of Landscape Architecture, the Cornell Institute for Resource Information Systems, the Cornell University Geospatial Information Repository and the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research.

GIS Day 2003 is part of the National Geographic Society's Geography Awareness Week, Nov. 16-22. GIS technology users across the country will open their doors Nov. 19 to schools, businesses and the general public to display real-world applications of this technology.

Also, Mann Library and Cornell's Uris Library will have hands-on introductory workshops on GIS on Nov. 19. The workshops will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Mann Library's Stone Classroom and in Uris Library's Electronic Classroom. Those who would like to participate can sign up for these workshops in advance at the Web link http://www.mannlib.cornell.edu/reference/instruction/workshops.html#GIS or by sending e-mail to mann_ref@comell.edu .