Changing mental maps of the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean regions

ABSTRACT

Little empirical research has considered the way in which macro-regions are perceived outside academic and political circles. Such studies alone can determine what regional narratives mean for the wider public, and the extent to which they coincide with region-building images produced by elites. This article examines the mental maps of high school seniors in 10 cities in the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean regions, focusing upon their perception and knowledge of other countries in those areas. Despite efforts at region building since the Cold War, the two regions remain divided on mental maps. Students have little knowledge of countries across the sea from their own, although such knowledge is generally greater among those from coastal (and particularly island) locations. A comparison with maps constructed by Gould in 1966 reveals that the perception of countries within one's own region among Italian and Swedish students has become more negative over the last 50 years.     

Candidate localness and voter choice in the 2015 General Election in England

Previous research has demonstrated a significant relationship between the geographical distance from a voter to a candidate and the likelihood of the voter choosing that candidate. However, models of this relationship may be mis- or under-specified, by not taking into account voters' perceptions of distance or not controlling for other possible factors related to a candidate's ‘localness’ which may influence vote choice. Using a two-wave panel survey carried out during the 2015 UK General Election, this article tests a more fully specified alternative-specific multinomial probit model of candidate-voter distance. We show that, although the effect size is smaller than in previous tests, candidate-voter distance mattered in the 2015 General Election, an effect that is robust to controls not only for party support and incumbency, as previous research had demonstrated, but also to measures of voter information, candidate presence and marginality. We also find that contiguity mattered: candidates living in non-neighbouring constituencies have a lower likelihood of vote than those living in neighbouring constituencies or in the constituency itself.     

Remembering Things Seen: Experimental Approaches to the Process of Information Transmittal

The persistent problem of determining the factors that lead to continuity or variation when information is transmitted in different kinds of cultural situations is addressed here experimentally in a series of reproduction tasks. Art students were given varying degrees of exposure to different kinds of images and objects from different cultures and were asked to make reproductions. The results indicate that the most important factors leading to accurate reproductions are length of exposure, meaningful associations, and especially cultural knowledge. These factors can be used to develop more realistic archaeological models that posit the kinds of information transmitted in different kinds of contact situations.     

信息时代的地理学研究——NCGIA对若干理论问题的探索

本文以美国国家基金委员会资助美国国家地理信息与分析中心(NCGIA)进行的瓦伦纽斯(Varenius)研究项目有关信息时代地理学研究的一系列中期研究报告与论文为基础,介绍了中心一些著名学者以地理学家独特的地理哲学思维,对信息时代的地理学研究若干理论问题所作的新探索与阐述,旨在为国内学者了解、追踪地理信息科学的新发展,开展地理信息科学的跨世纪研究提供借鉴。     

基于GIS的区域经济分析与决策初步研究

GIS技术能为区域经济分析直接提供一种交互式的、可视化的决策支持,已广泛应用于地方、区域和国家各级水平的经济分析、规划决策过程中。在本文中,作者首先对区域经济分析决策的各种方法进行了必要的分析,说明了在区域经济分析中GIS所能提供的技术支持,然后对建立一个基于GIS的区域经济分析与决策信息支持系统进行了初步研究,并举例说明了GIS技术在经济分析与决策中的应用。     

金融集聚研究进展与展望

金融业集聚属于服务业集聚范畴,既与制造业集聚有共性,又有其独特性。金融集聚的研究主要依托于区位理论、集群理论和金融地理学。区位理论是金融集聚的理论基础,集群理论为金融集聚提供了研究范式,金融地理学的发展为金融集聚研究带来新的动向。金融集聚的现有研究内容主要集中于对集聚的动因、类型、效应、模式的探讨,以及金融中心的构建等几个方面。随着全球化、信息化对金融业的发展布局影响越来越大,未来应重点加强对金融分支行业和微观区域方面的研究。     

Small core,big network: a comprehensive approach to GIS teaching practice based on digital three-dimensional campus reconstruction

Geographic information science (GIS) features a wide range of disciplines and has broad applicability. Challenges associated with rapidly developing GIS technology and the currently limited teaching and practice materials hinder universities from cultivating highly skilled GIS graduates. Based on the idea of “small core, big network,” a comprehensive and interesting approach to GIS teaching practice is introduced in which a variety of key knowledge areas and technologies are effectively incorporated into a single project. A year-long assignment based on this approach was conducted, providing the students with practical training and successfully resulting in a digital three-dimensional representation of the campus.     

档案管理工作中电子信息的利用和开发

对于电子信息只有根据信息的类别进行管理,同时要符合保密、真实和完整的要求,才能确保电子信息的完整性和安全性。本文从存档电子信息的收集、保存、提供等角度,探讨了电子信息在现代档案管理中应该注意的问题。     

The spatial distribution of Palaeolithic human settlements and its influence on palaeoecological studies: a case from Northern Iberia

The aim of this study is to assess the influence of human site location choice on biogeographical and paleoecological studies based on archaeological remains, through a case study in north-western Spain. Data from an exhaustive literature survey and field trips were managed with GIS and subjected to statistical analyses. The results show that the influence of the different variables shifted through the Palaeolithic, although certain general preferences can be seen: low altitudes (median: 151 m a.s.l.), South-facing surfaces, generally gentle slopes (median: 13°) and moderate distances to water courses (median: 297 m). These choices were conditioned by geomorphological factors, with LGM glacier extent imposing an upper limit in the range of occupied altitudes and marine and fluvial terraces conditioning site location patterns. The results suggest that human site location patterns during the Palaeolithic were not random, conditioning the information available from archaeological remains. Our results allow us to identify some key areas where information on past faunal distributions, and more generally on biocoenoses, will be scarce or missing.