Part 1—User involvement: the Tongan Land Information System

Abstract

This paper is divided into two parts, both of which relate to the proposed Tongan Land Information System. Part 1 of the paper describes in detail the necessity of involving people (users) in the design, implementation and maintenance phases of an information system. This belief is substantiated from the review of extensive information science literature and from the emerging evaluations of longer standing land information systems. Part 2 will discuss how user participatory methodologies can be employed to produce a prototype of a land information system, particularly where such a system embraces, embodies and is sympathetic to cultural issues. The proposed Tongan land information system development is cited as an example.