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-------- Original Message --------
Subject:         NYPL Map Rectifier Public Beta
Date:   Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:06:16 -0500
From:   Shekhar Krishnan <[log in to unmask]>
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Dear MapHist colleagues:

A few weeks ago the New York Public Library Map Division debuted the
public beta of its online Map Rectifier http://maps.nypl.org where
anyone can now create a free account to collaborate in georeferencing
NYPL's vast archive of scanned maps.

The Rectifier contains individual maps and layers of maps in atlases and
collections, and anyone can load up a map and rectify it to a selection
of basemaps with a simple point-and-click interface identify ground
control points. Here are some examples:

Plan of Boston from Mitchell's General Atlas, 1860
http://maps.nypl.org/warper/mapscans/preview/7642

Plan of Manhattan in 1797, D.T. Valentine, 1853
http://maps.nypl.org/warper/mapscans/preview/15327

Bromley's Atlas of New York City 1911
http://maps.nypl.org/warper/layers/871

Robinson's Atlas of Brooklyn 1867
http://maps.nypl.org/warper/layers/867

In the map views one can rectify the individual map, in the layer view
you must select a map from the list to rectify it, or you may choose to
Digitize the layer by clicking on the tab and selecting a schema. In all
map and layer views one can export in image formats as well as kml, and
for digitized features as shape files, georss and kml.

I'm the project manager for the NYPL Rectifier, which has been developed
as open source software which hope to share with more map collectors and
institutions through a consortium. We welcome everyone on this list to
try out the tools and give us feedback and ideas for further development.

Best,


Shekhar
--

Shekhar Krishnan
MIT E51-185
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
U.S.A.

http://heptanesia.net
http://web.mit.edu/shekhar
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