ABSTRACT
CONTENTS 12.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 283 12.2 Setting the Framework: Integrated Heritage Management
and Networking .................................................................................... 284 12.3 Furthering the Network: Heritage Management
and Sustainability ................................................................................. 285 12.4 National Protective Inventory ............................................................ 286 12.5 Process .................................................................................................... 287 12.6 Heritage Management and the NPI................................................... 288 12.7 GIS Factor: Frontiers in Data Dissemination.................................... 289 12.8 Looking for a Comprehensive System .............................................. 290 12.9 Access ..................................................................................................... 292 12.10 Conversion ............................................................................................. 292 12.11 Future of NPI......................................................................................... 294 12.12 Conclusions............................................................................................ 297 References ........................................................................................................... 297
This chapter examines the use of GIS and Web-mapping technologies in the implementation of a heritage management system (HMS). Its use as a tool to warehouse, analyze, and publish data in an integrated and user-friendly format is examined. The paper is based on a methodology used spanning the process taken from the analog archives to a Web-mapping product. The idea behind a digital national protective inventory (NPI) also referred
to as an HMS, developed mainly on three fundamental ideals: accessibility, integration, and sustainability. In a country still synonymous with an obsession to hoard data, breaking through the accessibility barrier was
seen as a major milestone, and also added the equally vital issues of integrating an information system and sustaining its upkeep. The issue of accessibility was based on the slow process involved in
monitoring and assessing change on Listed* buildings through the planning process. The analog system of existing data-capture sheets in volume form and a developing GIS network at the Planning Authority (PA) were seen as the right elements needed to develop an integrated system (Gatt and Stothers, 1996). Integration was also desirable in the evaluation process especially in valorizing assets that involved properties with different heritage aspects namely: archaeological, ecological, and cultural aspects. The project also considered sustainability as a fundamental issue both in relation to financial and human resources. These elements are encapsulated in the EU sustainable cities principle of ecosystems thinking (Borg, 1999a,b). Once the integration process was completed, a dissemination phase was
launched through the use of Web-mapping technologies and CD development that saw the previously inaccessible data converted to a simple information interface powered by HTML and JavaScript.
