| Overview |
This project is research-driven and concerned with the construction of Spatio-temporal databases. Over twenty years it develops Academia Sinica’s strengths in Geographic Information related digital archiving and this undertaking has come to fruition with (among others) over 550,000 maps of mainland China and Taiwan and over 800,000 aerial photographs. In addition to these big database, this project builds ad hoc search systems based on the metadata extracted from the materials in order to integrate GIS resources that used to be dispersed in different institutions. These efforts constitute two major systems, the Federated Search System for the Digital Archive of Maps and the Integrated Query System of Aerial Photos.
In 2019 we intend to build on the current digital archives of map and remote sensing image by incorporating new digital contents. This will include photographs taken by R.O.C. Air Force, maps owned by Factory 401 of the Armaments Bureau of the Ministry of Defense, whose digitization is half way through, and a variety of nautical charts and data held by the Naval Meteorological and Oceanographic Office, R.O.C. It is estimated that the aforementioned projects will digitize 24,000 maps and 60,000 aerial photographs.
50,000 items of metadata will be obtained through exchange schemes with other institutions. A selection of 5,000 maps and remote sensing images will be add-valued such as coordination georeferencing for further application. The set maps such as Topographical Maps of Mainland China (1: 50,000) Maps of Cities of China (1:10,000) and Orthophotograph of Taiwan in the 1960s will be selected in candidate list.
The project also seek to improve the services of the Federated Search System for the Digital Archive of Maps, the Integrated Query System of Taiwan Aerial Photos, Taiwan Maps through a Century and Online Map Recalibration Services by building effective interconnections among these systems through API and web services. Data licensing, academic conference, exhibition, workshop and keynote speech are the means whereby we promote and pass on these efforts for the benefit of academic research, education and cultural business.
Existing archives and technologies will be applied to advancing what is called as “Spatial Humanities” and this will operate in tandem with our attempt to practice crowdsourcing, in order to flesh out a valued-added mapping system allowing multidimensional narratives in terms of time and space. The spatial-temporal coordinate structure of information will function as a powerful “CyberInfrastructure” to productively spatialize and visualize research in aspects of Taiwan history and culture. In hopes of improving local cultural studies, community development and environmental protection, the Community Story Maps Platform will enable users to expand layers of GIS information in time and freely employ modes of spatial narrative to map out his or her story. |
