Geolibraries: geographers, librarians and spatial collaboration

Geography, GIS and GIScience are closely aligned with the emergence of 'geolibraries'. Geolibraries are also coincident with the metaphor of 'Digital Earth'. The growth in these areas of research and practice can be traced to collaborations among multiple disciplines. Geography and library science stand out as interesting partners. At first glance it may seem that it would be difficult to find common ground for such collaboration. The reality is that the two communities have been closer for longer than most may think. Such collaboration does, however, face unique challenges in a Canadian context, and collaborations thus far have been more successful in the United States. This paper reviews issues at the intersection of GIS and libraries and offers suggestions for further spatial collaboration in Canada within the context of geolibraries and GIScience .     

Time,place, and the lifeworlds of feminist geographers: the US in the 1970s

The 1970s, the decade in which Susan Hanson took up an academic appointment in American geography, was a period of marked growth in women's representation and political activism in the discipline and of the emergence of feminist research and teaching. Susan's career illustrates the changes in consciousness, resiliency in the face of setbacks, and creativity of the times. Inspired by the women's movement, and exemplifying collegiality, women geographers identified masculine biases in scholarship and professional practices, initiated research and teaching on women and gender, and worked to enter the leadership of the Association of American geographers. Their efforts were the genesis of the feminism in the profession that has since flourished in the United States. It is fitting that Susan Hanson's leadership and contributions in this arena are widely recognized and honored.     

Space-Time, 'Science' and the Relationship between Physical Geography and Human Geography

This paper explores the possibility that there may be commonalities between physical geography and human geography in emerging ways of conceptualizing space, time and space-time. It argues that one of the things holding physical and human geography apart for so long has been their relationship to physics as an assumed model of 'science'. It is proposed here that not only is this an inadequate model of science but that it has led us astray in our inherited conceptualizations of both time and space. The urge to think 'historically' is now evident in both physical and human geography. The paper argues that this both forms the basis for a possible conversation and also obliges us to rethink our notions of space/space-time.     

Some Results of the Second National Interagency Conference on Population Geography

Population geography in the Soviet Union is found to be developing mainly in breadth without adequate theoretical gounding. Because of the growing interest in mathematical methods, which have yet to demonstrate their real research value, long-tested traditional methods (statistical, comparative, cartographic) are being neglected. The usefulness of large conferences as compared with small meetings on a specific topic is questioned. The present active interest in population geography is resulting in neglect of other branches of economic geography in the Soviet Union.     

Using the concept of genre de vie: French geographers and colonial Algeria, c.1880-1949

By the mid-twentieth century, French geographers had produced substantial works of research aiming to classify genres de vie. They had broken with the idea that nomadic and sedentary genres de vie were the successive stages of a universal history of human societies, and argued instead that they were the result of human adaptations to specific natural environments. Within this new conceptual framework, nomadism was thus understood as a form of highly evolved genre de vie responding to the particular characteristics of the steppe. But if pastoral nomadism was the best possible adaptation to the dry steppe zone, on what natural basis could the extension of European sedentary agriculture be justified? Scientific answers to this question were of strategic importance in Algeria which was the most important colony of settlement in the French empire and in fact often considered as a part of France. Through the analysis of a corpus of works published by institutionally recognized geographers concerning Algeria and Algeria’s indigenous genres de vie (including doctoral theses, articles in the Annales de Géographie and literary reviews), the paper attempts to show how the concept of the ‘adaptation of mankind’ to the natural environment, when applied to Algeria, generated a series of intractable divides and deep contradictions. This in turn requires us to reconsider the idea that in French geography, the neo-Lamarckian concept of natural determinism systematically supported a distinction between so-called ‘European’ and ‘Native’ populations. By examining precisely the scientific usages of the concept of genre de vie in the colonial and imperial situation, the paper will attempt to reveal how the academic debates of the time were shaped by competing views of the civilizing mission of French colonialism in Algeria.     

Behavioral Geography and the Theoretical/Quantitative Revolution

Beginning with a position statement about the serendipitous nature of the emergence of both normative theory and quantitative methods in Geography, this chapter details the nature of the various contributions to both areas by Behavioral Geographers. Contributions to data collection and both qualitative and quantitative analysis are reviewed for the periods 1960 to the present. Particular emphasis is placed on contributions made by those interested in decision making and choice behavior, particularly in terms of the role of Spatial Cognition (theory and methods) in fostering and extending those dual "revolutions." Other themes emphasize the development of avenues of publication from the "gray literature" of Department Discussion Papers to the emergence of the journal Geographical Analysis and support by geographers for a variety of interdisciplinary journals. A final focus is on the great variety of themes pursued by the Behavioral Geographer of today, and some suggestions are made regarding possible avenues for future research.     

当代西方人文地理学研究动态——《人文地理学词典》评述

通过对约翰斯顿等人编著的《人文地理学词典》(第三版)的分析,揭示当今西方人文地理学的研究动态,指出中国人文地理学的发展差距。     

A test for geographers: the geography of educational achievement in Toronto and Hamilton, 1997

The recent introduction of standardised achievement tests in several provinces has created an opportunity for Canadian geographers to contribute to public and theoretical debates. Geographers are well‐equipped to comprehend and analyse the effects that neighbourhoods have upon pupil achievement. Independent of family background and school funding, such effects may be stronger in education than in other fields, such as voting behaviour and health research, but they have been ignored in recent public debates. They should be considered if informed judgements are to be made about whether specific teachers, schools, and boards are doing an adequate job. Analysis of the Ontario Grade 3 test results for 1997 in public schools in the City of Toronto and in Hamilton‐Wentworth indicate that social class had a greater effect on pupil achievement than language background. Differences in the determinants of achievement between these two urban centres may be attributable to local variations in occupational structure and residential patterns. L'introduction récente en éducation des tests de compêtences standardisés, dans plusieurs provinces, offre aux géographes canadiens l'occasion de contribuer aux débats publics et théoriques. Les géographes sont bien placés pour comprendre et analyser les effets de quartier sur le rendement scolaire des élèves. Indépendamment du milieu socioculturel et du financement scolaire, ces effets ont peut être plus d'impact en éducation que dans les domaines tels que le comportement électoral et la recherche dans le milieu de la santé, cependant, ils demeurent à l'écart des débats publics. Ces éléments doivent être considérés si l'on prétend juger en connaissance de cause l'efficacité et le rendement des écoles, le corps enseignant et les conseils scolaires. L'analyse des résultats d'examens de l'Ontario en 1997, pour les élèves des écoles publiques de la troisième année des villes de Toronto et Hamilton‐Wentworth, démontre que la réussite scolaire est plus liée au niveau socio‐économique qu'à l'origine linguistique. La divergence des facteurs de réussites des deux centres urbains est peut‐être attribuable aux variations des structures d'occupation locales et résidentielles.     

国防地理视野中的抗战正面战场

中国国防的形态从古代到近代经历了巨大变化,先是边防(陆防)之外有了海防,继则又有了空防。伴随这一过程,中国国防地理形势也在发生变化。全面抗战爆发前,中国国防地理形势受制于两方面的影响:一是中国政治中心南移导致的国防重心南移,二是日本在华不同地区形成的既存势力格局。此外,国民政府在全国不同地域统治力量的强弱也影响着国防地理形势。战前朝野对中国国防地理有过较多探讨,认识大体接近。为因应未来战争,国民政府分别对陆、空、江海防以及战略大后方做了布局。全面抗战爆发后,正面战场陆军作战主要在重要铁路干线和国际交通线展开;空军作战先集中于东南沿海地区,渐次转向华中、西南;海军作战主要沿长江航道展开,辅之以沿海要塞作战。正面战场的作战体现了国民政府"以空间换时间"的整体抗日战略。     

全国区域经济地理学理论与实践研讨会简记

受国家教育委员会委托,由东北师范大学地理系、东北亚地理研究所主持的全国"区域经济地理学理论与实践研讨会"于1992年8月15日至18日在长春召开。来自全国24个高等学校、科研单位和政府部门的56名代表参加了会议。大会共收到论文26篇。