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The following are two book resources for understanding Public Participation GIS:
Craig, W.J. et al. (ed.) (2002) Community Participation and Geographic Information Systems. New York: Taylor & Francis.
This book is a necessary source for anyone interested in PPGIS. It is a comprehensive collection of 27 articles discussing the most current and relevant ideas in the field. The book is divided into three sections; the first section addresses the concept and modelling of PPGIS; the second part focuses on case studies, and the third section discusses the future of PPGIS. The editors have gathered authors from both an academic and professional backround. Each article provides a forward-thinking and probing perspective on the issue. The case studies are drawn from a number of contexts, and are organized into areas concerning the inner city, planning, environmental management and development. The references contained in each article provide excellent sources for further investigation. Overall, this book is a fundamental resource for any investigations into PPGIS.
Pickles, John (ed.) (1995) Ground Truth: The Social Implications of Geographic Information Systems. New York: Guilford Inc.
This book, written seven years before Community Participation and Geographic Information Systems, should be considered in its temporal context. At the time, it was quite groundbreaking in its discussions of the social implications of GIS, a concept that was gaining momentum at that time. The book is a collection of nine articles. Eight of these articles focus mainly on discussing the effect of technology on the nature of the study of geography in general. The articles centre around how various advances in technology, combined with shifts in socio-economic and political thinking, has allowed geographic academics to understand the world in new ways. The final chapter features a case study from South Africa. This case study was in its initial stages in this book; the case is examined in later stages in Community Participation and Geographic Information Systems, and it is featured on this website as case study X.