Excerpt:
This guide is intended for historians who want to use Geographical Information Systems (GIS). It describes how to create GIS databases and how to use GIS to perform historical research. Its aims are to:
Define GIS and outline how it can be used in historical research
Evaluate the way GIS models the world
Describe how to get data into a GIS
Demonstrate the basic operations that GIS offers to explore a database
Review how time is handled in GIS
Explain how GIS can be used for simple mapping and more advanced forms of visualisation
Discuss quantitative data analysis within GIS
Illustrate the use of GIS for qualitative analysis
Summarise documenting and preserving GIS datasets
The book provides a broad sweep of GIS knowledge relevant to historians without assuming prior knowledge. It includes case studies from a variety of historical projects that have used GIS and an extensive reading list of GIS texts relevant to historians.