----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I didn't see MAPS-L on the address list, so thought I'd share.  Kathryn
 
Kathryn Womble                          e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Map Collection                          Phone: (206) 543-9392
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA  98195-2900
 
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 8 Nov 1996 19:42:21 +0000
From: Humphrey Southall <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask],
    [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask],
    [log in to unmask]
Subject: New Mailing List: history-gis
 
[The usual apologies for cross-posting]
 
A new list, 'history-gis', has been established at mailbase to facilitate
discussion among historical researchers interested in the use of
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology. By 'historical
researchers' we mean people who study the past mainly using documentary
evidence -- so if your interests are archaelogical you may be better off
joining the 'gisarch' mailing list.
 
To join history-gis send the command:
 
       Join history-gis firstname(s) lastname
 
(substituting appropriately) as the only text in the body of a
message addressed to:
 
       [log in to unmask]
 
About the list:
==============
 
If you are a historian or historical geographer who simply wants to know
more about GIS, there is no harm in joining and you may be able to make
some useful contacts (but see also the more general 'gis-uk' list).
However, we hope that this list will be a place where there is specialist
discussion of:
 
-- How to obtain digitised historical mapping;  for example, maps
   showing the boundaries of ancient counties or the road network
   as it was at some past date.
 
-- Incorporating a time dimension into a GIS, which is surprisingly
   difficult using standard packages.
 
-- Analysing and visualising geographical change. This covers both
   the problems posed for statistical analysis by changing geographical
   units and the creation of animated maps.
 
-- Incorporating old maps and other archival resources into a GIS. How
   can we make best use of poor quality survey data, or maps using
   strange and obsolete map projections?  The practicalities of
   digitising or otherwise capturing data from archive maps.
 
The list is intended to be 'with special emphasis on the UK', and this
means we would expect most discussion to either concern the history of the
UK or to involve UK-based researchers.  The list has been established as
part of a major collaborative initiative which aims to build a large
integrated historical GIS for the UK, containing the changing boundaries of
administrative units from regions down to parishes, linked to a wide range
of socio-economic data from sources such as the census, vital registration
and election results. It may prove necessary to set up a separate list for
this initiative (especially if we obtain the large scale funding we are
seeking); it is also possible that we will moderate the list to keep it
reasonably focussed on the UK.
 
Incidentally, information about other activities involving historical GIS
work in and on the UK, including planned workshops etc, is available at our
web site:
 
http://www.qmw.ac.uk/~gbhgis
 
Humphrey Southall (List owner)
 
 
========================================================
Dr. Humphrey Southall,
Reader in Geography,
Department of Geography,
Queen Mary and Westfield College,
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON,
Mile End Road,
London E1 4NS,  ENGLAND
 
Direct Line:  0171-975-5413
Dept. Fax:    0181-981-6276