Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
seven
Conclusions: From Historical
GIS to Spatial Humanities:
Challenges and Opportunities
Ian N. Gregory and Alistair Geddes
The essays in this volume illustr ate the diversity of
topics within and beyond history that can be conducted using historical
GIS (HGIS) and the fields of spatial history, humanities GIS, and spatial
humanities that are emerging from it. The topics discussed cover rural
history, urban history, demography, religious history, and environmen-
tal history. Reflecting this diversity, the authors come from disciplines
including history, geography, sociology, and media studies. The sources
and approaches vary from the highly quantitative analyses of census
data - particularly prevalent in Beveridge's essay - to the very qualita-
tive - exemplified particularly by Hallam and Roberts. Schwartz and
Thevenin, in particular, illustrate that these two do not have to be mu-
tually exclusive. Although their essay is based primarily on quantitative
sources, they also make considerable use of qualitative material that
could not be georeferenced, notably, the writing of contemporary jour-
nalist Richard Jeferies. he scales used in the topic vary from a single
city to a country the size of China, and the periods under study vary
from the twentieth century to the Song dynasty. Within these, the stud-
ies cover time periods that vary from single-date snapshots to analyses
covering a century and more.
As well as reflecting the diversity of HGIS, the essays also reflect its
current development. As discussed in the introduction, the first three
chapters conduct applied pieces of research that explore specific research
questions of interest to a wide audience of historians. The second three
are more concerned with further developing the field of HGIS by apply-
ing it in new ways or by incorporating new types of sources. These essays
172
