Joshua O'Leary Undergraduate Dissertation 2016/17

A Time Traveller's Map

Supervised by S.North

Abstract

Computers are widely used across many disciplines, and their use in historical and geographical studies is no exception. Since the development of geographic information systems (GIS) software, they have been used to display and analyse spatial information in ways that have not been possible before. This includes their use in a historical context, enabling the comparison of land features and developments between different time periods, and present day.

Despite this, there is a lack of software capable of displaying historical geospatial information in an intuitive manner, for use in education. Mapping software such as Google Maps can display older versions of maps, but lack the ability to display events and user-created annotations. Additionally, software GIS packages with historical functionality, such as QGIS, whilst technically having such functionality, present many features for general GIS usage, of which only a fraction may be used by the average user, and are not tailored for specifically displaying historical GIS information. Furthermore, whilst there exist a few solutions in the area of historical mapping, most come preloaded with map content, providing the user with little or no control over the maps and annotations drawn on top.

This project aims to demonstrate the research, design, implementation and evaluation of a historical mapping tool, for use in education. The software produced should be easy to use, and place as much control as possible in the hands of the user, especially the creation and editing of maps, map annotations, and events. Where appropriate, features of existing GIS software should be incorporated into the software, but only when necessary, so as not to overwhelm the user with unneeded functionality.

The project was successful in the development of a historical mapping software solution targeted at educational users, combining features of existing solutions and developing new features. Whilst much more functionality could have been added, it provides a good basis from which further work can be carried out.