INTRODUCTION Recent studies have revealed that over 80% of local governments in the U.S. have locational references in their data (Nedovic-Budic & Pinto, 1999) and a majority of local governments use geographic information systems (GIS) technology to manage spatial data, a trend often described as a "growth surge"(Warnecke, Beattie, Cheryl, & Lyday, 1998). With the growth of Internet, there is an increasing demand for location specific data and analytical solutions requiring GIS to locate and integrate multiple databases. This, in turn, requires federal, state, and local government agencies to develop capabilities so that their data can interoperate. For example, a real estate entre