Land Use Database Unveiled Information on Unusual and Exemplary Sites
Throughout the Nation, Now Available on the Internet
The Center's Land Use Database is now available
on the internet, as a free public resource. The electronic unveiling
on August 1st marked the culmination of a year's worth of research,
computer programming, data-entry, and processing of information
on potentially eligible land use sites.
The database features a collection of unusual and
exemplary locations across the country, with information on what
they are and where they are, internet connections for further
information, and, in many cases, visitation information including
directions on how to travel to the site. It is a resource designed
to educate and inform the public about the function and form of
the National landscape, a terrestrial system that has been altered
to accommodate the complex demands of our society.
Some sites included in the database are works by
government agencies involved in geotransformative activities,
such as the Department of Energy, Bureau of Reclamation, the Army
Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Defense. Also included
are industrially altered landscapes, such as especially noteworthy
mining sites, features of transportation systems, and field test
facilities for a variety of high-impact technologies. The database
includes museums and displays related to land use, and one of
the most thorough listings of land art sites available.
Students, educators, journalists and tourists can
conduct regional or thematic surveys, finding information on specific
sites or locations using key word searches, or can explore sites
in the database state by state. Internet mapping technologies
are progressing rapidly, and will be incorporated into the database's
interface as they become available. A print-out of sites from
the database makes an alternative tour book for travelers, and
this service, one that The Center has provided by request to several
groups and individuals in the past, can now be performed by anyone
with access to the internet.
The Land Use Database Project is far from over.
"What we have now is a sort of infrastructure for a constantly
advancing discourse with the public", said database collaborator
Matthew Coolidge. "The Database is a repository for the fruits
of continued research at The Center, where the information is
properly organized and accessible to the world through a number
of easy to use search methods".
The database is continuously being updated by increasing
the number of sites listed and expanding the information it contains.
We encourage input from those interested in helping us improve
this resource.
