-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        New online georeferencing effort - British Library
Date:   Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:33:46 -0000
From:   Kowal, Kimberly <[log in to unmask]>
To:     <[log in to unmask]>



The British Library has just launched an online crowdsourcing tool to
georeference a sample of 18th and 19th century medium-scale mapping of
England and Wales, with large-scale street plans of London starting much
earlier.
http://maps.bl.uk
I am happy to report that the effort has thus far been hugely
successful, with 67% completed (currently), of the total 725 maps, in
less than one week!
The technology is an an upgraded version of Klokan Technologies initial
georeferencing software (such as that implemented at the National
Library of Scotland). Features surrounding management of metadata and
images are improved, as is the overall user experience (base maps,
registration, gazetteers), but most significantly, crowdsourcing tools
to encourage participation have been developed. The inclusion of means
by which participants can immediately see what they and others have
contributed to the project has been a real incentive and has made this
an engaging tool to explore historic mapping.
We are very pleased to have these maps - the Ordnance Survey Drawings,
1780-1840, and a selection of appropriate maps from the Crace Collection
of maps of London - georeferenced at last. I have received innumerable
queries (and complaints!) over the years about our lack of an
interactive, online geographic interface for these in-demand maps, and
we are on our way to making collections ready for such access.
We hope to make many more collections of maps available in this way.
Kimberly
Kimberly C. Kowal
Lead Curator, Digital Mapping
Cartographic and Topographic Materials
Scholarship & Collections
The British Library
96 Euston Rd.
London NW1 2DB
Tel: +44 (0)20 7412 7849