The Land Use Database
Project is on the fast track, and is the primary endeavor at
The Center for the coming months. Volunteers and paid interns
are working on the project every day, adding to and refining
the database, a "catalog of unusual and exemplary forms
of land use in the United States".
So far almost 900 sites
have been logged in the database, sorted by site name, location,
and land use category. Not all of these sites will make the
final cut, however. When an as yet undetermined "saturation
point" is achieved, somewhere around 2000 entries, database
designers will have to edit the collection, paring it down to
the sites which possess the essential special qualities. When
this is done, the database will be ready to go "on-line"
on the internet, where it will be continuously expanded and
upgraded.
The database researchers
are uncovering new sites daily. Information is pouring into
The Center from sources all over the country, in response to
letters sent out in previous months. The reaction from military
organizations has been especially interesting to follow. "We
sent out letters requesting information to every military base
we could find an address for," said database researcher
Matthew Coolidge. "Some facilities have been very helpful,
while others have been very resistant to providing the site
maps and aerial photographs we requested. This helps tell us
which bases have more sensitive operations."
Rex Ravenelle, the Cal-Arts
alumni who received a grant last summer to work on the database
for a year, has been concentrating on the programming aspects
of the database. Sebastian Hassinger, based in Austin Texas,
and co-author of the book "HTML for Dummies", is a
primary computer consultant on the project, along with David
Stein, from the Computer Center at the University of California,
Los Angeles.
The Land Use Database
is an essential component of the Center's mission, as it is
from the database that the Center can draw from for future Site
Extrapolation Projects. Others can access the information free
on the internet, making it a valuable research tool for anyone
interested in America's contemporary landscape.
