Links to our publications

Please find below links to English translations of our articles on Geo-ICT in individual disciplines (pdf), based on a series of interviews that were conducted with international experts. Dutch versions of the articles were previously published in 2007 in the Dutch magazine VI-Matrix.

- Geo-ICT in Archaeology
- Geo-ICT in Criminology
- Geo-ICT in Economics
- Geo-ICT in History
- Geo-ICT in Sociology
- Geo-ICT in Marine Biology
- Geo-ICT in Meteorology and Climatology

Please find below links to two articles with our initial thoughts on modeling the use of Geo-ICT in Science:

- In search of an explanatory model I
- In search of an explanatory model II

Any comments, suggestions or additions would be most welcome.

Niels van Manen, Henk Scholten, Rob van de Velde
SPINlab, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

GIS in Marine Biology (1)

After a stimulating interview with Han Lindeboom, head of the scientific department of IMARES (Institute for Marine Resources & Ecosystem Studies) at Texel, and his GIS-coordinator, Elze Dijkman we are happy to announce the release of our first article in the series on GIS in science in VI Matrix, about the application of GIS and spatial information in Marine Biology.

An English translation of the article and an overview of relevant sources can be found here.

We would like to invite you to have a critical look at our article and to share with us your experiences with or views on GIS applications in marine biology. Your feedback and suggestions are most welcome. You can leave your comments with this posting.We are specifically looking for examples of research which resulted in surprising outcomes, thanks to GIS. But we are also interested in cases which shed light on the limitations of the current GIS systems or on the obstacles on the way to a futher integration of location information in the field.

GIS in Science Articles VI Matrix - hyper link

Hyper links to English versions of the articles that we are publishing in the Dutch magazine VI-Matrix can now be found here:

An introduction into our project

Article 1 about Historical GIS and its bibliography

Article 2 about GIS in Archaeology and its bibliography

Our first ideas on modelling the different stages of the integration of GIS in a Science

GIS in Epidemiology

This post is the introduction to an article on the use of GIS and location information in Epidemiology, with case studies to illustrate its strengths and weaknessess, its opportunities and downfalls. Please find a link to the full article here.

In 1854 many people died of a severe cholera epidemic that hit London. The cause of this epidemic was unknown and therefore Dr Snow had the clever idea to map cholera cases to see if there was a spatial pattern to be distinguished. It appeared that all cases were related to an infected water pump in Broadstreet, which quickly could be marked with a “Poisonous” sign. With this research Dr Snow got the credits of the first practitioner of health geography. Since that time geography is slowly being introduced within the science of epidemiology.

Epidemiology is the scientific study of factors affecting the health and illness of individuals and populations. Spatial epidemiology, also called health geography, considers the spatial and temporal characteristics of epidemiology.

GIS is nowadays an important tool in quantitative geographic research and in that way used in epidemiology. The mapping of malaria cases in combination with social and physical environmental factors to investigate its potential causes, is a good example. Other examples of the use of GIS in epidemiology are the mapping of HIV patients for the planning of health services and the mapping of the prevalence of the flu in order to do predictions about the spread of this disease.

However, as with the many new technological introductions in science it is very well possible that concepts and analyzing techniques of GIS within epidemiology may lead to overestimation or underestimation of the technique.

In this article the use of GIS within epidemiology will be investigated by means of a SWOT analysis. A SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of an objective requiring a decision. The required first step in SWOT analysis is the definition of a question or objective. In this case the question is: Is GIS a useful tool within epidemiology?

Please find here the full article

by Rosan van Wilgenburg, SPINlab, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

GIS as an integrative tool in Marine Biology

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has developed a promising Geographic information System, which enables researches to integrate data and to share results much more effectively than before.*

The natural systems studied at the AIMS are very complex, yet highly interactive. Because of their complexity, different researchers carry out their specialised analyses in isolated studies. It is only in the final stages of their research that they bring their findings together. By that time, it is too late for any real experimental integration.

However, recently a centralised, online data management system has been developed (EGIS), in which all data is associated with a spatial feature. This enables researchers to work together and to share information much more efficiently.

Firstly, there is a set of common data (for example on water temperature in different locations), which is used widely by researchers in different fields. Thanks to EGIS, these are now accessible to all, and both in the labratory and at sea. This means that the time consuming process of data transfer is avoided.

Secondly, in EGIS, new research data can be added constantly. This means that researchers can now compare and analyse data from different projects, while working on their own. For example, some of the findings by researchers working on oceanographic modeling or marine biodiversity may be valuable to those working on marine biotechnology. And because data from all these fields are available online, they do no longer have to work in isolation.

A next step would be to share information with other organisations. To stimulate such an exchange and integration, the Australian government has set up the Cooperative Research Centre Reef (CRCReef). In fact, other marine institutes have recently installed spatial Web servers, which means that sharing information will be possible.

However, there are still a few obstacles to overcome, before the system can work smoothly. First and foremost, many (older) datasets are still non-spatial, yet very important for the research. Also, the display of results is rarely hazzle-free and there is the issue of intellectual property rights. It is very important for researchers to have exclusive access to their data until they are published. However, by that time, too long a period might have passed for the raw data to be useable by another researcher.

Currently, the most promising applications of the EGIS data set seems to be in the field of prediction. By combining spatial data from different research and the use of statistical methods future scenarios can be explored for a specific reef area.

Niels van Manen
SPINlab, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

* A much more detailed description of the EGIS and its working can be found in:
Stuart James Kininmonth, ‘GIS: The key to research integration at the Australian Institute of Marine Science’ in: Marine Geography: GIS for the oceans and seas, by Jeo Breman (ed.) (2002), p. 67-71.

GIS in Archaeology (1)

After highly interesting interviews with Julian Richards* and Hans Kamermans** about the use of location information by archaeologists, we are happy to announce the release of our second article in the series on GIS in science in VI Matrix.

An English translation of the article and an overview of relevant sources can be found on our website. The article can be found under 'research', 'current projects', 'research projects' and then 'GIS in science'.

In this article we also introduce a first version of our model on the integration of GIS in a scientific discipline. A more detailed description and a visual representation of this model will be released shortly on this WebLog.

We would like to invite you to have a critical look at our article and to share with us your experiences with or views on GIS in Archaeology. Your feedback and suggestions are most welcome. You can leave your comments with this posting.

We are specifically looking for examples of research which resulted in surprising outcomes, thanks to GIS. But we are also interested in cases which shed light on the limitations of the current GIS systems or on the obstacles on the way to a futher integration of location information in the field.

* Julian Richards is Professor in Archaeology at the University of York, UK, Co-Director of Internet Archaeology (an online journal) and Director of Archaeology Data Service.
** Hans Kamermans is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Leiden, Secretary of the steering committee of CAA (Computer Applications and quantitative methods in Archaeology) and co-editor of Internet Archaeology.

GIS in Historical Sciences (1)

After an inspiring interview with Peter Doorn, director of the Data Networking and Archived Services (DANS), about the use of location information by historians, we are happy to announce the release of our first article in the series on GIS in science in VI Matrix.

An English translation of the article and an overview of relevant sources can be found on our website. The article can be found under 'research', 'current projects', 'research projects' and then 'GIS in science'.

We would like to invite you to have a critical look at our article and to share with us your experiences with or views on Historical GIS. Your feedback and suggestions are most welcome. You can leave your comments with this posting.

We are specifically looking for examples of research which resulted in surprising outcomes, thanks to GIS. But we are also interested in cases which shed light on the limitations of the current GIS systems or on the obstacles on the way to a futher integration of location information in the field.

GIS in Science - location information as the key to scientific breakthrough?

We have recently launched an exciting new project about about the value of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for science. Through this WebLog we would like to invite you to participate - sharing your experiences, expertise and views.

Almost every scientific investigation has a spatial aspect: natural as well as cultural phenomenon always happen somewhere. It is not surprising therefore that scientists ever since Antiquity have shown an interest in location. A good example of this is the Illiad; Homer's classic account of the Greek-Persian wars, which gives a detailed description of the actual battles, as well as the sites at which they took place.

Although geographic or spatial aspects have been considered by scientists for many centuries, it has only recently become possible to take them into account systematically. This is largely due to the development of technological devices commonly known as Geographic Information Systems.

We believe that many scientific disciplines, now and in the near future, can benefit greatly from these systems because of the opportunities they offer for data integration and visualisation and spatial analysis. Inspired by a book by the American philosopher of science Joseph Pitt about the interaction between science and technology, however, we are also interested in the other side of the story: how can scientists, from the specific nature of their field, contribute to the further advancement of GIS?

Our first goal will therefore be to explore how GIS is currently being used in different sciences; how scientists benefit from their application; and to what extent they themselves add to the improvement of the systems. Through interviews with 'GIS'- specialists working in different fields and a study of the available literature, we hope to get a clear picture of this. Our findings are published in the Dutch magazine VI-Matrix. English translations of the first two articles - on historical GIS and GIS and Archaeology - can be found on our website.

More importantly, our project aims to invoke a debate among scientists about how GIS and science can benefit most from each other in the (near) future. We believe that this WebLog, serving as an online discussion forum, will be a crucial means of accomplishing just that. We therefore kindly invite you to share your experiences and expertise with us. For example, how do you feel about the use of location information in your discipline? Do you have any examples of surprising outcomes thanks to GIS? Which obstacles do you foresee on the way to a further integration of GIS in your field? Which contributions can you and your colleagues make to the further improvement of GIS?

Finally, we also try to see our project in the light of a more general discussion on the interaction between science and technology. Can we use GIS as a case study to model this interaction? What are the different stages of the integration of a technology (GIS) in a scientific discipline? Which are the requirements for a successful interaction between the two - science and technology? And what are the effects of innovative developments in each, on the other?

Through this WebLog we will notify you of interesting developments related to our project and put forward issues on which we would like to get your views.

We hope that our discussions will come together at the international conference that we are organising this Autumn. The results will be published in a book (in English).

Henk Scholten, Rob van de Velde and Niels van Manen

SPINlab, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Using GIS to predict the spread of bird flu

Check out this example of how GIS can be used by health scientists to predict the spread of a virus – in this case the effects of a potential outbreak of bird flu in the USA.