Hi Matthew and all
Since Lucie and I between us have visited a good proportion of England's
HERs over the last couple of years, we should probably comment on this!

Almost all exeGesIS HBSMR users (>90%) now have GIS integrated with
HBSMR. Of these, very few now operate outside a corporate GIS. The vast
majority have all OS base mapping supplied from corporate GIS servers,
with a range of other corporate layers also available (such as planning
applications, SSSIs, TPOs, development plan areas, DEMs, etc etc).

In the same way, it is easy to make the HBSMR GIS layers available to
other corporate GIS users. The HBSMR spatial data is held in either
MapInfo, ESRI "shapefile", or ESRI "personal geodatabase" format,
depending on which version of our "MapLink" is in use (which in turn
depends on which 3rd party GIS software is used, MapInfo, ArcView 3 or
ArcGIS). Therefore the HBSMR layers are by definition already compatible
with the corporate GIS. HBSMR populates the attribute tables of the GIS
layers with any combination of attributes from the related database
tables. This can include multiple values from related tables (using the
wonderful MDLookup function beloved of all system administrators!).

Some HERs make their HBSMR GIS layers directly available to other users
in this way, but many more do not. This is not for technical reasons,
because to do so is simplicity itself. It is more usually because it is
felt that the spatial data in HBSMR is not directly appropriate to meet
the needs of other corporate users, and may be subject to misuse in
decision-making processes. For example, the GIS layer for "monuments"
(broadly defined) may include records of monuments that no longer exist,
or are thought to be spurious, alongside surviving and sensitive sites.

There are a number of issues here, many previously discussed on HERforum
(e.g. discussion of trigger maps and data for DEFRA in May 2004).  The
main one is that different local authority functions require very
different types of historic environment information. In the absence of
statutory definitions, the HER service needs to work out what purposes
data is required for, and then to make a data product that is fit for
purpose. Such purposes may include.... countryside access initiatives,
processing planning applications, development planning, tourism
initiatives, property/site management planning, building control and
Listed Building consents, among others. Each of these may require a
different subset of the whole HER, and some purposes may be best served
by a "derived" layer, for example, a "consultation trigger" layer
generated from the main HBSMR layer. All of these things are readily
achievable with HBSMR, so long as the required information has been
entered in a consistent way.

Some of this is variable between different local authorities, with
different emphasis given to different functions, but most (including
planning) is fairly standardised. Over the years there has been a lot of
discussion about what should be inside an SMR/HER (e.g. as expressed in
MIDAS), but not nearly so much on what derivative products might be
required for the various functions. We have recommended for some time
that this should be addressed, at least for the functions to do with
protection and management of the historic environment record.  For
example, we would recommend that there should be a standard methodology
for producing a layer showing actual or potantial archaeological
sensitivity, that could be produced across the whole country by each
HER. This is easily achievable with HBSMR, but the hard bit is deciding
a) that it should be done, and b) the exact methodology.

HBSMRv3 has advanced significantly in this respect by separating the
designations information from the interpretative "monument" information,
meaning at least that clearly-defined layers can be maintained for these
(e.g. registered battlefields, schedulings, conservation areas, listed
buildings etc).

So, in summary, of the HERs that use HBSMR, almost all now operate
within a corporate information environment, in which the GIS is the
primary means of sharing information between departments and teams. The
HBSMR layers can be shared in the same way, including limited
descriptive/classificatory information, but many HERs choose not to do
this indiscriminately, instead making customised datasets available for
specific purposes or projects. There is a case for agreeing standardised
methodologies for producing derivative spatial datasets for specific
purposes, including planning and the management of land-use change.

hope this helps
Crispin and Lucie

PS HBSMR text data can also be accessed by external applications written
in any standard development environment, and equally HBSMR can read in
any standard database formats to display/edit as required.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crispin Flower
exeGesIS SDM Ltd.
Great House Barn
Talgarth
Powys
LD3 0AH
Tel: 01874 713072/711145
Fax: 01874 711156
email: [log in to unmask]
URL: www.esdm.co.uk
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-----Original Message-----
From: STIFF, Matthew [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 12 October 2004 09:38
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: GIS integration


Dear All, 

I have been asked to come up with examples of HERs that have integrated
some or all of their data within a corporate GIS. I would be
particularly interested in exeGesIS users that are making their MS
Access data available in this way.

Please reply off list.

Best wishes, 

Matthew

Dr Matthew Stiff
Data Services Manager
National Monuments Record Centre
Kemble Drive
Swindon
SN2 2GZ

(t):   01793 414727
(f):   01793 414770
(m): 07939 151510
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