I already posted this sum, but didn't see it come up on the list, so I am just resending it: Thank you to the following people who responded to my question: Craig van Hagen, Paul Lohr, Dorothy Luckie, Kathi Hannaford, Marc Kaplan and Michael Ciscell. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a "quick fix" to the problem and I will surely try all the suggestions. The original question and sum follow below: Original question: I am currently using ArcView 3.1 and I have the following two questions regarding shape files: 1) Is there any way that I can find out what the projection of a shape file is? 2) Can I sort of "write-protect" my shape files so that it cannot be modified by someone else? Responses: 1) It is not possible the tell what the projection of a shape file is, only whether it is in a projection or not. The best bet is to try and find out what the projection is from the person that gave you the shape file. Secondly you can also try the more common projections that are used for your area, for instance in South Africa Transverse Mercator, etc. Sometimes there is a projection file that has been defined - a file named prj or with that extension. Or the data can be compared to data of which the projection is known (just make sure it is geographically close to each other). Throughout the responses the importance of metadata were emphasized. 2) Suggestions included that I set the properties of the shape files as read only in Windows Explorer. There seems to be nothing else that can be done, although Kathi did suggest that it can be done, but that she doesn't know herself. Regards, Annalie Fourie