---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _From: Qin Tang Source: CHINA , 11/08/93 [The following is an announcement of CITAS. Please direct your inquiries to citas@u.washington.edu. Qin Tang, CITAS Database Manager] China in Time and Space (CITAS) China in Time and Space (CITAS) was founded as a central repository for contemporary and historical electronic databases on China and will provide a focus for on-going efforts to expand the information base and access to it. CITAS is a partnership between China specialists, initially sponsored by the ACLS/SSRC Joint Committee on Chinese Studies (JCCS), and the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). Priorities include 1) the acquisition, evaluation and dissemination of a wide range of environmental and social science data, 2) the incorporation of data- driven models of regional systems, 3) the acquisition of county-level and urban data and 4) the formation of partnerships with Chinese organizations and scholars in the development of the database(s), associated applications, and training programs. In all instances, CITAS will develop and make available computerized documentation for each of its data components. One CITAS project will identify extant computerized data sources on China and develop a directory of these sources. Initial research projects include: 1) documentation and incorporation of 1980s data on cities/towns and county- level units; 2) coding, evaluation and incorporation of new county-level data extracted from provincial statistical yearbooks compiled between 1950 and 1992; and 3) creation of a historical GIS for China covering changes over the past millennium in spatial variables. By June, 1994, CITAS plans to have established 1) vectorized map data covering the entire PRC at 1:1,000,000 scale; 2) a substantial base of tabular county-level demographic, social and economic data and a limited datafile of demographic and economic data on Chinese cities and towns, 1984-90, all keyed to mapped locations; 3) a substantial fund of historical data including a) co-locations of county boundaries and their position in higher-level administrative units for the period, 741 to 1949, and b) on line access to a dynamic biographical/genealogical dataset containing historical demographic, migration and political variables; and 5) documentation of the above data. The central facility of CITAS has been established at the University of Washington. Collaboration with CIESIN provides CITAS with full access to a staff experienced in metadocumentation, networking, and software development as well as high-capacity computer hardware.