Getting Started with Geographic Information Systems

This book seems like it would work for an intro class to GIS anywhere from the middle school to the college level (I used it for a graduate level intro course). For the most part, it does a good job introducing broad, central, concepts in GIS without getting too technical or bogged down with detail. That being said, it also doesn't offer a whole lot to sink your teeth into. Some of the parts are painfully outdated, too. After reading some of the stuff about the advent of the new fandangled world-wide web, I had to check the copyright date. AOL?? Really? I also felt like it did a bad job introducing database concepts. Regardless of these flaws, it does work as an intro text. I am now on the 'Thematic Cartography and Geovisualization' text in the series, and I'm hoping it will be a little more useful.