Many of these images are newly found contents. The two major sources are: first-hand photos obtained from individual collectors and a collection of images related to Taiwan history and culture collected by TBMC and AND Publishing Ltd over the years. A collection is made by renting old photos from individual collectors, with the total number of over 15000. The purpose of this project is not to acquire the originals, but to digitize them. After being digitalized, 25,000 photos have refreshed past historical events. An image is like an epitome of lifestyle in the earlier days. It is more touching and real than words. The work is presented by GIS, a creative technology. The interrelationship between space and time has enriched contents of the work and brought into modern creativity for Taiwanese cultural resources. It offers users the new references and different sides of thinking. It is a significant work of knowledge-based economy.

◆  New Educational Resources: 25,000 First-hand Images reflect Taiwanese History

    ●    Publications on General Introduction of Geography and History

          These publications included overall reports of geography, history and the current developments. The contents were arranged with photos and texts side by side. Most prominent works include “Large-scale Japanese Geography— Taiwan,''“Large-scale Japanese Geography and Customs—Taiwan,” and “Latest Introductory Photos of Taiwan.”

    ●   '' Locality Panorama ” Stressing Local Features

          Shooting government offices, schools, hospitals, and major shop fronts of a specific area and compiling them into books. Most prominent works include “Taipei Panorama,” “Yilan Panorama,” and “Tainan Panorama.”

    ●   '' Photos of Companies ” Reflecting Features of Industries

          Bigger companies and other establishments in Taiwan during Japanese rule such as banks and electricity, development, and sugar companies had published their own historical records, for example, “History of Taiwan Sugar Company” published by Taiwan Sugar Company and “Photos on the Construction of Water Power Plant at Sun Moon Lake.” In these publications a large amount of photos was included.

   ●     Photos Marking Events

          Photos ,marking major events such as war, commotion, celebration, and expo were published, for example, “Royal Enthronement (1928)” of? Emperor Showa; “Itinerary of Royal Highness (1923)”commemorating the inspection of Taiwan by Royal Highness; the pacification of Tailuke tribe, the last military campaign in Japanese controlling indigenous people in the fifth year of the administration of Governor General Sakuma; “Wushe Incident (1930)”shocking people all over Taiwan; a large-scale military exercise in the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Showa (1934); and the exhibition commemorating forty years of Japanese administration (1935), among many others.?

  ●     Government Publications Publicizing Administrative Achievements

          In order to publicize administrative achievements, the government published such publications as “Taiwan panorama” and Summary of Statistics. In these publications there were many valuable images.

  ●      Publications on Tourism Promotion and Scenic Spot Post Cards

          Tourism is a newly-developed industry after the 20th century. In earlier days The Transportation Bureau under Taiwan Governor General’s Office was in charge of tourism. In order to attract tourists, especially Japanese tourists, publications with the nature of publicity and travel guidance were published. In addition, many scenic spot post cards were preserved till this day. These by-products of the tourist industry had paid higher attention to image quality and the amount printed. They thus became important materials of this database.

◆  GIS Mapping Function: Integration and Application of Modern Technology

     After Taiwan Nichinichi Sinpou (YUMANI high-resolution version), we again introduce this new “Taiwan Photo Gallery／GIS Database”. GIS is quite an advanced information technology, rarely used by a database. With the implementation of this project, a large amount of geographic information will be established and processed, and detailed layers of drawings will be made and integrated with relevant functions.

◆   Area of Application

    Researches on History, Geography, Literature, Education, News, Play, Transportation, Economic, Architecture, Tourism, War, Taiwanese Aborigines, Historical Events, Railroad, Tea, and Sugarcane…etc.