The Malta NPI project : developing a fully-accessible information system

Abstract

This chapter examines the use of GIS and Web-mapping technologies in the implementation of a heritage management system (HMS). Its use as a tool to warehouse, analyze, and publish data in an integrated and user-friendly format is examined. The paper is based on a methodology used spanning the process taken from the analog archives to a Web-mapping product. The idea behind a digital national protective inventory (NPI) also referred to as an HMS, developed mainly on three fundamental ideals: accessibility, integration, and sustainability. In a country still synonymous with an obsession to hoard data, breaking through the accessibility barrier was seen as a major milestone, and also added the equally vital issues of integrating an information system and sustaining its upkeep. The issue of accessibility was based on the slow process involved in monitoring and assessing change on Listed* buildings through the planning process. The analog system of existing data-capture sheets in volume form and a developing GIS network at the Planning Authority (PA) were seen as the right elements needed to develop an integrated system (Gatt and Stothers, 1996). Integration was also desirable in the evaluation process especially in valorizing assets that involved properties with different heritage aspects namely: archaeological, ecological, and cultural aspects. The project also considered sustainability as a fundamental issue both in relation to financial and human resources. These elements are encapsulated in the EU sustainable cities principle of ecosystems thinking (Borg, 1999a,b). Once the integration process was completed, a dissemination phase was launched through the use of Web-mapping technologies and CD development that saw the previously inaccessible data converted to a simple information interface powered by HTML and JavaScript.