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I have just subscribed to this mail list, because I am about to try some
computer mapping--as a utter beginner.  As part of a study of how
medieval English communities tried to control social misbehavior, I'll
need to do a good deal of mapping and would like to learn how to do it
myself, via computer.
 
Although I'm sorry to put elementary questions before people who normally
deal with more sophisticated matters, I would be very grateful for
information/advice about any or all of the following questions:
 
1) I'll presumably need to start out with a basic physical map of
England, showing coast lines, boundaries, and major rivers.  I want to be
able to range in magnification from displaying all of england on one
screen (or one 8.5 x ll printout) to a larger mag. where the country is
subdivided into perhaps 20 sub-units.  Is such a map already available
for computer use, or would I need to scan one in?   What kind of
software would enable me to change the display magnifications like that?
What kind of software and printer would I need to print out maps of this
sort?
 
2) Likewise, I'll need to have a map showing the boundaries of English
counties prior to 1800.  Is that available, or would it need to be scanned?
 
3) I now have a data base of information about 250 towns/villages entered
into SPSS which I want to display on the basic map of England.  What
would be the best mapping software to use?  What would I need to run it
on my PC, or would I have to run it on a bigger machine at work?
 
4) Is there a computer-based listing of geographical coordinates arranged
by English county/place-name that would let me read in the coordinates of
my 250 places, rather than having to look them up in a gazetter and enter
them manually into the SPSS file?
 
5)  I want also to scan in a medieval road map.  Would the software I
used for items 1 and/or 3 above work for that too?
 
6) Ideally I'd like to compare my places against a map showing elevation
contour lines.  Are such maps already available for computer use, or
would I have to can one in myself for England?
 
7) In all of this, I would like to use the simplest possible methods,
since I am still so much of a novice at this.  A more elegant approach is
less attractive to me than one that is easy to use.
 
8) Any other things I should know or think about?
 
Thanks in advance to anyone who has the time and good-will to help set me
off in the right direction!
 
Marjorie K. McIntosh, Dept. of History, University of Colorado at
Boulder, U.S.A.