Geospatial computing for the arts, humanities and cultural heritage

References to time and location pervade the human record, both past and present: an oft-quoted statistic is that some 80% of all online information is in some way georeferenced. It is unsurprising therefore that as researchers in the arts, humanities and cultural heritage become more fully engaged with e-infrastructures, their disciplines´ engagement with, and use of, spatial and temporal data gives rise to new and interesting research questions in this area. How, for example, can heterogeneous academic data resources which fall into the 80% of georeferenced information — including, for example, historical texts, archaeological databases or museum collections — be linked and cross-queried without dictating the research process or methods used? How can geo-temporal data be visualized, both geographically and non-geographically? What is the role of ‘virtual globes’ such as Google Earth as platforms for the expression of such data? What can digital tools and methods in geospatial computing contribute to the use and understanding of space and time in the practice-led arts, creative industries and galleries (e.g. for documenting performances or visitor pathways)? How can issues of scale that are common to both time and space be usefully explored in the arts, humanities and cultural heritage sectors?