About TimeMap

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TimeMap® is a project to develop methods of storing and displaying cultural data with both a spatial (map-based) and a time component - for example, the spread of Asian empires, the growth of Victorian cities, the locations of archaeological sites or the lives and travel of Buddhist scholars.


The TimeMap methodology provides:

·	A means of recording geographic features which have both a spatial and temporal component;

·	A means of making this data available to the TimeMap map interface program (TMWin) or other software either from local datasets or from datasets served across the Internet (TimeMap Local Datasets and TimeMap Internet Datasets respectively);

·	Methods for cataloguing and searching for TimeMap datasets on the Internet (the ECAI Metadata Clearinghouse);

·	A means of superimposing diverse datasets on one another in a single time-aware map;

·	A means of downloading selected data from Internet datasets to a consistent GIS format on a local drive for further analysis with other software packages;

·	Control of access to datasets through passwords and encryption;

·	Methods of display and animation of maps through time.

This manual will spell out, in some detail, the steps necessary to publish map and attribute data (with or without a time component) in such a way that it can be accessed by the TimeMap software and located through the ECAI Metadata Clearinghouse. There are many other components to the TimeMap methodology which are explained in more detail on the TimeMap Project web site www.timemap.net.