University of Newcastle firmly on the Map of Digital Humanities

Wednesday, 2 September 2020

The Time Layered Cultural Map of Australia (TLCMap) development team in the School of Humanities and Social Science is working on a major update following the delivery of a user testing report from Asymmetric Innovation.

TLC map logo

TLCMap is a toolkit for mapping history and culture, from finding placenames in large stretches of text to creating virtual reality experiences. Users can utilise one or more of the tools depending on their needs and move information between them to enable new discoveries. The multi-institutional project firmly places UON as a leader in Australian Digital Humanities and is funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grant.

TLCMap’s System Architect is Dr Bill Pascoe, who through his work on TLCMap and the wide-reaching Colonial Frontiers Massacres Map has established himself as a global leader in the field of digital mapping in the humanities. Bill leads a team of five talented software developers based in Newcastle, Melbourne and China. The Centre for 21st Century Humanities is a partner in the project, and UON Chief Investigators alongside Project Leader Emeritus Professor Hugh Craig include Associate Professor Mark Harvey, Professor Victoria Haskins and Professor Lyndall Ryan.

TLCMap expands the use of Australian cultural and historical data for research through sharply defined and powerful discovery mechanisms. Hugh Craig says the system will have significant benefits for not only researchers but also the public.

“For researchers, including those without technical backgrounds, it has the potential to transform access to data and visualisation tools and open new perspectives on Australian culture and history. For the public, it will give increased accessibility to historical and cultural data through visualisations created by researchers and made available online and in print,” he said.

TLCMap is due to launch later this year.  Subscribe to the TLCMap newsletter.


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