Detailed information on the current system, whether manual or automated, should be gathered by the URA manager. This information should be gathered by interviewing the personnel involved with the existing system, such as the managers, professionals, and technicians. The interviews

should be supplemented by observation of their work, noting significant backlogs if any. and the applications of various data sets that are made

by the staff. Particular care must be taken to identify the specific types of data used, including the data topology, format, media, representation,

and accuracy. At the same time documentation concerning the costs of operating the existing system should be developed. The results of

the review of the existing system will form  abase line for comparison with any proposed automated system and will serve as the basis for

cost/benefit analysis. Data types can be classed by discipline. Within disciplines data can be further sub-classed to provide an adequate

description of data types that the proposed GIS must manage and analyze. Each type of data will topologically represent point, line, or area information, or in some instances may be used in different spatial contexts for varying applications. For example, a stream gage record represents

point information, a water course represents line information, and a riverbasin  represents areal information. However, in a different application,

the user may be creating estimates of hydrologic parameters based on gage records for application to watershed areas. In this instance the hydrologist has applied point information to an area. The format of each type of data (tables, graphs, maps) should be noted by the URA manager.

Users should also be asked if the present format is most functional, or could it be improved by conversion to an alternative representation that

might be more ger-mane to the organization's applications. The media in which data are