近二十年來應用歷史地理資訊系統的回顧與展望：以臺灣區域史研究為例

Retrospect and Prospect: Application of Historical GIS to Taiwan Regional History Studies in the Last 20 Years

歷史地理資訊系統（Historical GIS，以下簡稱「歷史GIS」）的發展已近廿年，期間應用歷史GIS的環境已有極大變化，這些改變意味著研究者不見得必須仰賴大型計畫或團隊合作的模式應用GIS，個人的歷史GIS研究變得更容易達成。而區域史作為一門將歷史現象放回其產生區域（空間）脈絡中加以審視的研究領域，似乎是臺灣史學中最能體現歷史GIS價值的領域之一。由此，本文分三部分回顧近廿年來臺灣區域史研究應用GIS的情況。第一部分探討應用GIS最深入的三個區域史主題，觀察GIS扮演的角色，第二部分進一步檢視研究者如何以GIS處理不同類型的區域史料，而第三部分則探討2003年THCTS等Web-GIS發展以來，在臺灣區域史應用上的不同趨勢。

The past two decades witnessed rapid development in historical geographic information system (GIS) and significant changes in its applications. Of note is that applications of historical GIS are no longer restricted to large-scale projects or collaborations; hence, individual investigators can easily apply historical GIS for their own research. Among various disciplines of Taiwan historical research, regional history, as a study which unfolds history in the context of regional analysis, seems to be one that can realize most the values of historical GIS. As a review of the applications of historical GIS to Taiwan regional history studies in the past 20 years, this paper comprises three parts. First, it discusses how GIS is applied in three key themes of regional history studies. The second part details how GIS can be used as a tool to deal with different regional historical materials. Finally, it explores the construction of Web-GIS based infrastructure, such as THCTS (Taiwan History and Culture in Time and Space), examining the role it plays in regional history studies.