================================================ MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ================================================ Subject: FW: Future Foundations: Mapping the Past -- GIS Conference December 2-3 Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 From: Boardman, Richard <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> For those in the area, this should be an interesting and informative conference Rich Boardman Map Collection Free Library of Philadelphia **forwarded message*** Please forward to any colleagues or listservs to whom this might be of interest: FUTURE FOUNDATIONS: MAPPING THE PAST Building the Philadelphia GeoHistory Network December 2-3, 2005 Chemical Heritage Foundation, 315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia PA 19106 Sponsored by the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) Conference information and downloadable registration form now available at http://www.pacscl.org/news/2005/conference.html GIS technology is proving itself a valuable tool for organizing data for both the public and private sectors - for municipal infrastructure maintenance and record-keeping, regional planning, real estate, land use, and tourism. At the same time, scholars are using the technology in disciplines that embrace the humanities, the social sciences, the physical sciences, and medicine. Now PACSCL invites current and potential GIS users to gather to think about new uses for a geographic based resource, new users from a range of disciplines, and new ranges of contributors and contributions. The purpose of this symposium is to focus less on the "how" of building a GIS and more on the "why." We will concentrate on finding ways that data from all of these sectors -- when organized with a sense of place and time -- can offer new insights into connections across these disciplines. PACSCL's objectives in hosting this event are to foster increased cooperation among a widened range of current and potential GIS users and to give participants the opportunity to consider issues of how best to work together in the presence of a lively and informed group of colleagues. The results of this symposium will be used to further shape the Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network. This event, together with a pilot project to develop the Network, are funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. -- Laura Blanchard, Executive Director Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries c/o Historical Society of Pennsylvania 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia PA 19107 215-985-1445, [log in to unmask], http://www.pacscl.org/ (backup e-mail account: [log in to unmask])