A place in history: a guide to using GIS in historical research

CHAPTER 1: GIS AND ITS USES IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH

1.5 The GIS learning curve

Moving into GIS requires a long and sometimes daunting learning curve. It involves learning new technology, acquiring or building spatially referenced databases, and learning a new approach to investigating the patterns within those databases. Once the need for a GIS has been identified, most GIS projects will go through three distinct stages. The first stage is the resource creation phase. In this stage the hardware, software, staff, and spatially referenced databases are acquired. As is described in Chapter 3, building spatially referenced databases is a particularly slow and costly operation. These costs should not be underestimated, and may rightly act as a deterrent when the use of GIS is being considered.

The second stage usually involves basic mapping and querying of the spatially-referenced database using the kind of techniques described in Chapter 4 and the early sections of Chapter 6. In this stage the GIS adds new options and new functionality to a project's ability to explore the spatial patterns and spatial relationships held within its data. This stage can be reached quite quickly once the database has been built, as the techniques used are well developed and central to most GIS software packages.

In the third stage the use of GIS becomes more sophisticated. This involves the use of more complex explorations, analyses and visualisations. The researcher will often devise new techniques and methodologies appropriate to their own specific data and problems. This can involve sophisticated visualisations, as described in the latter sections of Chapter 6, and the use of more complex quantitative and qualitative analyses that attempt to explore the data through all three of their components: namely attribute, space and time as is described in Chapters 7 and 8. In this stage the GIS is no longer simply a tool but also becomes an explicit part of the research agenda.

From this discussion it should be apparent that running GIS projects is a middle- to long-term process with long lag times before the full rewards of the initial investments are realised. This fundamentally influences who should and should not get involved in using GIS. Healey and Stamp summarise this succinctly when they state that "GIS is not suitable for 'one-off' map production or short-term investigations but is ideal for the steady and meticulous development of geographically referenced data resources that can be utilized for a variety of purposes over a period of years. The initial investment will pay handsome dividends in the medium term." (Healey and Stamp 2000, 590).