History and GIS
Title | History and GIS PDF eBook |
Author | Alexander Lünen |
Publisher | Springer Science & Business Media |
Total Pages | 250 |
Release | 2012-12-05 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 9400750099 |
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) – either as “standard” GIS or custom made Historical GIS (HGIS) – have become quite popular in some historical sub-disciplines, such as Economic and Social History or Historical Geography. “Mainstream” history, however, seems to be rather unaffected by this trend. More generally speaking: Why is it that computer applications in general have failed to make much headway in history departments, despite the first steps being undertaken a good forty years ago? With the “spatial turn” in full swing in the humanities, and many historians dealing with spatial and geographical questions, one would think GIS would be welcomed with open arms. Yet there seems to be no general anticipation by historians of employing GIS as a research tool. As mentioned, HGIS are popular chiefly among Historical Geographers and Social and Economic Historians. The latter disciplines seem to be predestined to use such software through the widespread quantitative methodology these disciplines have employed traditionally. Other historical sub-disciplines, such as Ancient History, are also very open to this emerging technology since the scarcity of written sources in this field can be mitigated by inferences made from an HGIS that has archaeological data stored in it, for example. In most of Modern History, however, the use of GIS is rarely seen. The intellectual benefit that a GIS may bring about seems not be apparent to scholars from this sub-discipline (and others). This book wants to investigate and discuss this controversy. Why does the wider historian community not embrace GIS more readily? While one cannot deny that the methodologies linked with a GIS follow geographical paradigms rather than historical ones, the potential of GIS as a 'killer application' for digital historical scholarship should be obvious. This book brings together authors from Geography and History to discuss the value of GIS for historical research. The focus, however, will not be on the "how", but on the "why" of GIS in history.
Placing History
Title | Placing History PDF eBook |
Author | Anne Kelly Knowles |
Publisher | ESRI, Inc. |
Total Pages | 338 |
Release | 2008 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1589480139 |
CD-ROM contains: Four Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and interactive mapping exercises, some of which extend the scholarly material and addresses new issues related to historical GIS.
Past Time, Past Place
Title | Past Time, Past Place PDF eBook |
Author | Anne Kelly Knowles |
Publisher | Esri Press |
Total Pages | 202 |
Release | 2002 |
Genre | Computers |
ISBN | 9781589480322 |
Collects essays about historical questions that can now be answered through geographic information systems, as well as the problems and limitations of using GIS technology.
The History of Geographic Information Systems
Title | The History of Geographic Information Systems PDF eBook |
Author | Timothy W. Foresman |
Publisher | Prentice Hall |
Total Pages | 424 |
Release | 1998 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN |
These authors' contributions helped bring to national, state, and federal agencies the powerful new suite of geospatial tools for issues ranging from land use management to population enumeration."--BOOK JACKET.
Historical GIS
Title | Historical GIS PDF eBook |
Author | Ian N. Gregory |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | 205 |
Release | 2007-12-13 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1139467719 |
Historical GIS is an emerging field that uses Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to research the geographies of the past. Ian Gregory and Paul Ell's study, first published in 2007, comprehensively defines this field, exploring all aspects of using GIS in historical research. A GIS is a form of database in which every item of data is linked to a spatial location. This technology offers unparalleled opportunities to add insight and rejuvenate historical research through the ability to identify and use the geographical characteristics of data. Historical GIS introduces the basic concepts and tools underpinning GIS technology, describing and critically assessing the visualisation, analytical and e-science methodologies that it enables and examining key scholarship where GIS has been used to enhance research debates. The result is a clear agenda charting how GIS will develop as one of the most important approaches to scholarship in historical geography.
Historical GIS Research in Canada
Title | Historical GIS Research in Canada PDF eBook |
Author | Marcel Fortin |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 0 |
Release | 2014 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9781552387085 |
Fundamentally concerned with place, and our ability to understand human relationships with environment over time, Historical Geographic Information Systems (HGIS) as a tool and a subject has direct bearing for the study of contemporary environmental issues and realities. To date, HGIS projects in Canada are few and publications that discuss these projects directly even fewer. This book brings together case studies of HGIS projects in historical geography, social and cultural history, and environmental history from Canada's diverse regions. Projects include religion and ethnicity, migration, indigenous land practices, rebuilding a nineteenth-century neighborhood, and working with Google Earth.
Toward Spatial Humanities
Title | Toward Spatial Humanities PDF eBook |
Author | Ian N. Gregory |
Publisher | Indiana University Press |
Total Pages | 235 |
Release | 2014-04-14 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0253011906 |
The application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to issues in history is among the most exciting developments in both digital and spatial humanities. Describing a wide variety of applications, the essays in this volume highlight the methodological and substantive implications of a spatial approach to history. They illustrate how the use of GIS is changing our understanding of the geographies of the past and has become the basis for new ways to study history. Contributors focus on current developments in the use of historical sources and explore the insights gained by applying GIS to develop historiography. Toward Spatial Humanities is a compelling demonstration of how GIS can contribute to our historical understanding.