GIS is a buzzword these days at marine labs, field stations, university campuses and government agencies. The design and implementation of a GIS involves the use and organziation of data in ways that are familiar to library and information center staffs. Librarians should know what they are and how they can be used. The two workshop speakers were Michael Goodchild, Director of the National Center for Geographic and Information Analysis at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Kenneth Haddad, Research Administrator and Director of Coastal and Marine Resources Assessement at the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg, FL. They introduced the concepts and applications of GIS.