Why a Geodatabase? The creation and subsequent improvement of
ESRI's geodatabase structure provides an excellent method for
generating living GIS documents. This format was introduced by
ESRI in the ArcGIS 8.1 release in 2001. There are numerous
advantages to structuring GIS data in a geodatabase environment,
compared to doing so with a mass of shapefiles. The main benefit
is the number of system files created. Whereas a complicated
archaeological GIS may use dozens of shapefiles - which will
translate to hundreds or even thousands of system files - the
geodatabase exists as only one system file, thus reducing both
space requirements on the hard drive and relaxes strain on
system resources. However, this is not the only advantage in
migrating information to a geodatabase. Ormsby et al (2001)
outline three advantages to using a geodatabase. These
advantages deal with the structure of GIS data. As already
mentioned, vector data (points, lines, and polygons) is stored
in shapefiles, otherwise known as feature cl