Use of geographical information systems in historical investigations

Abstract

The eScience project, which aims to create a web-based platform for the collaborative mapping of the city of São Paulo between 1870 and 1940, will grant a fellowship to an undergraduate student as a part of his or her introduction to scientific research methods. The eScience project is contributing to the increasing use of geotechnologies within historical research, a trend clearly recognizable over at least the previous decade and a half. The fellow will conduct a survey of the origin and trajectory of the use of geographic information systems (GIS) in historical research, within and outside of Brazil. The fellow will also examine the methodological aspects involved in this research, especially relating to the incompatibilities between the necessities of technological precision and the incompleteness and ambiguities fundamental to historical documentation. In doing so, the introduction to scientific research fellow will ensure the project itself receives proper historical context and aid in the definition of the necessary methodological concerns. (AU)