HOW THIS WEB PAGE WAS PRODUCED

  1. To produce the map, geographic data in ESRI's shapefile format was converted to the vector-based Macromedia Flash format. Flash is very compact (meaning rapid download), provides practically infinite resolution (zoomability), and supports animation, interactivity, and integration with other web technologies.

  2. Except for the map, the data presented in the left window was formulated using the Resource Description Framework (RDF). RDF is the XML-based web language at the heart of the Semantic Web Project, whose aim is to add computer-readable semantic descriptions of real world objects and events to the realm of web content.

  3. Our RDF-based constraint engine generated the website automatically. The inputs were shapefile and RDF data which were processed and integrated with HTML and Flash components.
The use of an engine which processes data in standard formats to create web content means that a website can be automatically expanded as data is added. This supports collaborative development of historical websites, with people from different specialties and expertise providing the data for their domain.

See our technology section for details.