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Appendix 1: specifying place

Appendix 2: Geographical location

Appendix 3:Digitising the space

Appendix 4:CBIAC balance sheets

Appendix 3: Digitising the space

Data preparation
The software used by the ECAI project at Curtin is ESRI's ARC suite of programs, initially ArcView and latterly ArcInfo. Part of a steep learning curve in becoming more familar with GIS was the realisation that the coordinate data would need to be converted to DBase format in order to be available to the software. This proved to be a remarkably inconsistent process, in which the DBase version of a file turned out to contain incomplete data or was treating data as headings, among other unexpected problems. Once an accurate DBase format spreadsheet had been produced, it could be imported into the GIS software and converted to a shapefile, one of the ESRI's two GIS data formats: a format which is much more robust.

Mapping using ESRI products
ArcInfo does not have functions to deal with the time dimension. Therefore separate map layers were produced for each of the ten-year time slices covered by the data. The point data must be mapped against framework GIS data which provides a background. For online and conference presentations, a digital elevation model (DEM - an image) is used as a background as it is colourful and merely records physical detail, avoiding the issue of sourcing digital pre-1914 boundary data for Asia. For black and white publication, vector GIS boundary data must be used as the DEM does not reproduce well in black and white. For those who wish to experiment with viewing GIS data via a mapping client, we have provided a zipped file of the CBIAC data for download. To read this data you will need to download ESRI's free GIS reader software, ArcExplorer, and install it on your local machine. Then open the file cbiac.aep. In general, using client software produces better and clearer results than a web-based GIS viewer.

Mapping using TimeMap
TimeMap, a product available to all interested scholars from the TimeMap Consortium, provides temporal functions which allow easy access to time-stamped data. A single GIS layer in which every feature has a recorded beginning and end date can be navigated using a time bar, and, in addition, animations through time can be produced. TimeMap can be used in client mode but all maps produced can be output automatically to a web page.

CBIAC data prepared for use by TimeMap

TimeMap demonstration using the CBIAC data.

Screenshots from Powerpoint presentation of mapped data
These images show data mapped in ArcInfo.