Across the Pacific and Indian oceans,
the Austronesian speaking people have voyaged for centuries making
a network of communication within a linguistic family that became
the most extensive in the world prior to European arrival. The
cultures were launched from the Western Pacific and the early
Austronesian speakers reached islands of further distance apart
traveling in lashed and pegged canoes across vast expanses of
ocean.
The Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative
(ECAI) over the past few years has developed as a group interested
in the academic research and international collaboration. The
Austronesian projects were proposed by the founder and chairman
of ECAI, Lewis Lancaster, at a meeting entitled Austronesian Studies
in Taiwan--Retrospective and Prospect (UC Berkeley sponsored with
the Shung Ye Museum in 1997). Since then collaborative teams have
taken up the idea by researching the possibilities of cultural
mapping using a geographic information system (GIS) to integrate
the heritage of a place.

This project is a model for future language
mapping because it combines the generation of a digital version
of older printed language maps with the collection of data on
contemporary languages areas, and then the use of dynamic (time-enabled)
map display techniques capable of showing visually the changes
in language boundaries. The work will also give us an opportunity
to advance our work on the design and use of gazetteers of language
areas. A conventional gazetteer of Austronesian place-names
would be supplemented (or complemented) by a directory of languages
and dialects with the formal geographical specifications of
where they are (or were) spoken at different times. These data
would be coupled with map displays such that any combination
of data from the gazetteer could be displayed at will. There
are plans for a peer-reviewed digital publication in collaboration
with the California Digital Library administered by the Office
of the President of the University of California.
· Presently, individuals, academic research
institutions, such as libraries and universities, and private
foundations including NGOs are supporting ECAI Austronesia.
· ECAI invites interested people and
institutions to utilize the opportunity by joining this electronic
database. Projects are being interconnected, GIS based, showing
layers of electronic maps utilized to record and plot time sequences
of heritage information.
· This scholarly and educational process
of annotated mapping with the assistance Indo-Pacific linguistics,
archaeology, ethnology, sociology, geography, and history is
proceeding in phases to serve as an academic bulletin board
for scholarly exchange.