This preliminary conceptual framework and the 23 related guidelines have been prepared by specialists drawn from both developed and developing nations as a joint project of the International Institute for Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC). The project was designed to analyze linkages between natural resource based data and certain types of socioeconomic, scientific, and technological information, and to prepare guidelines to serve as an operational framework for establishing integrated spatial data banks, with particular emphasis on ensuring their usefulness in development planning. The report deals with geographic information systems from three perspectives: as information systems, having particular importance in the development process; in terms of the specific spatial function they perform; and the challenges presented by the integration of spatial data. Following an introduction and summary of the guidelines, the report is divided into five sections: (l) the nature of geographic information systems; (2) general considerations relevant to information systems (including identification of the users and uses of integrated spatial information and design considerations); (3) collection and handling of spatial data, including geocoding; (4) establishing an integrated geographic information system; and (5) post-establishment managerial concerns. A list of participants and resource persons contributing to the project, a selective list of existing geographic information systems, and a glossary of terms used in the report are appended. (THC)