Geographic Information Systems and Historical Research: An Appraisal

It is time to make a critical appraisal of the application of the Geographic Information System (GIS) to historical research. In this article I briefly review the promises and achievements of the use of this technology in history and I also consider some of its possible developments. Based on the experience of a project on the Iberian Peninsula, a special emphasis is put on transnational GIS. In the last section, the new avenues opened by GIS to historical research and the difficulties that its application also involves are considered in the light of the evolution of historiography and of the experience of using databases in history. I argue that although the application of this tool in historical research represented an important innovation, GIS did not bring about a revolution in knowledge production in history. I also raise doubts about the notion of a spatial turn in this field. I finally suggest that the emphasis should be put, not on the technology, but on the historical problems.