Index of Resources:
The 'cadastral map' appears in Europe in 15th Century for very
specific needs; polder surveys in Holland to collect fees for
maintenance of dikes, King of Sweden surveys all properties to
collect taxes more equitably (and to support his wars...). [See
Kain and Baigent, Cadastral Mapping in the Service of the State,
Chicago Press]
By contrast, parcel mapping in Britain is highly decentralized
in this era, one manor at a time. Enclosure movement was done
one parish at a time [rich expropriating the peasants, of course.].
A cartographic
essay on the treatment of Finland through a few hundred years
of cartography.
Nineteenth century National States need tax revenue. Cadastral
survey mobilized to provide a rational basis. Napoleon in France,
Bismark in Germany... Now, there are significant attempts to coordinate
these efforts (in Europe, the MAGIS
project; links real estate agents with some hilarious usage
of English).
Some go back to cadastral surveys (like the Swedes and the Finnish National Survey Board (Finland was at that time operated by the Swedish King, though the Russians got it for a while before it became independent. Here is a history of the chief land surveyors in Finland through some of these transitions (pardon the Finnish) Here is a paper (in English) about this project.)
Many national surveys tie to military functions (the name of
the Ordnance Survey in
UK- their history
page is under About Us on the righthand menu: "revolution"?).
Institut Geographique Nationale (France)
converted from Army origins to a civilian operation with linkages
to engineering. 1940 was an odd time to move OUT of the military...
A European attempt to coordinate mapping policies: EuroGeographics.
[Provides links to all European mapping agencies...]
US Geological Survey comes
from another direction, the understanding of natural resources
- a scientific mission.
combination of various factors of historical context; Hofstede
suggests four dimensions of culture for management organization:
individualism-collectivism, power-distance, uncertainty avoidance,
'masculinity'. [Based on a huge number of surveys worldwide.]
Yet, two cultures (UK and USA) found very close by Hofstede
for management are far apart in geographic information.
[remembering to avoid some belief in a 'superorganic' culture;
people are the agents of change and of stability...]
Centralized vs decentralized
USA: 3042 counties, 19200 municipalties; 166691 townships;
14721 school districts; 29532 'special' districts ... each can
institute GIS as they see fit. 50
States coordinate GIS differently. [Not to mention the Native
American tribal organizations, whose sovereignty in GIS is fairly
strong... website vanished, though]
Only Switzerland has a similar decentralized federal authority
stucture, though it has plenty of central tendencies (status
of updates in Swiss Federal
Cartography) It now has an office working on coordination.
Versus some highly centralized bureaucracies: one national survey
makes all maps down to local engineering drawings (eg. UK Ordance
Survey or Finland)
the tendency to desire a common cultural ideal versus a tendency
to create a particular local solution...
Enlightenment tradition: Basic Human Rights; universal worldwide...
Compares to a cultural emphasis on different solutions, diversity
issues of secrecy of administration; open access to public
process; protection of individual privacy - construct the meaning
of information
Large variation in balance between rights to privacy, and public
access to public records. [Not to mention issues about efficiency
in Government.]
Privacy regulations in some countries prohibit using information
for another purpose from the reason for which it was collected.
Clearly, this limits the multi-purpose potentials of GIS.
In Washington State, the Public Records Law collides with the
Public Trust Doctrine that is built into the State Consitution
for the Commissioner of Public Lands and the Department of Natural
Resources.
cultural approach to creating 'objects' in time and space;
some societies create categories - places, periods
some can deal with continuous space a bit more easily (environmental
movement?)
Social/political/cultural goals about distribution of economy and power
National Spatial Data Infrastructure: Federal Geographic Data Committee; <some history of how it got here>
Many examples of coordination worldwide:
Virtual every developed country has something similar...
Example of mandates & custodians
<Presentation from overheads, GIS/LIS 1991; see also 4s/EASST 2000 Vienna>
Different views of time and historical process:
Data quality: fitness for use & responsibility
Data ownership: authorship & commerce in information
Institutional sponsorship: official & informal mandates
Guilds & professional standards of conduct
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Version of 8 December 2003