Below is a somewhat random forwarding of an email from lis-maps - but I thought I'd point out that some powerpoint presentations are online from the LIBER conference in Amsterdam where the theme was: /The Future of the Map Library and the Map Librarian. Begin your adventure here: / http://liber.gdc.2008.googlepages.com/ / / -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Search interfaces for on-line map libraries -- examples of good practice Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 18:30:16 +0100 From: Fleet, Christopher <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: A forum for issues related to map & spatial data librarianship <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] References: A<[log in to unmask]> Hi Humphrey, This is just a quick and partial answer to your first question, having just seen a few map websites demonstrated last week at the LIBER Conference in Amsterdam that are along the lines you describe: 1. The Royal Tropical Institute has 12,000 maps accessible through a text-based, geo-referenced search engine: http://testbiblio.kit.nl/biblio_smartsite/maps_search.htm 2. The DIGMAP Project has several tools and prototypes for textual and visual searching of geo-referenced maps: http://www.digmap.eu/doku.php 3. The Carto-Mundi Mediterranean Map Library website also allows zoomable map-based searching of geo-referenced graphic indexes: http://cartomed.mmsh.univ-aix.fr/index_EN.html Abstracts and some of the Powerpoints relating to these sites are on the LIBER Conference website: http://liber.gdc.2008.googlepages.com/ Chris Chris Fleet Deputy Map Curator National Library of Scotland 33 Salisbury Place EDINBURGH EH9 1SL United Kingdom. Tel. 0131 623 3973 Fax. 0131 623 3971 E-mail: [log in to unmask] View maps website: http://www.nls.uk/maps -----Original Message----- From: A forum for issues related to map & spatial data librarianship [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Humphrey Southall Sent: 09 July 2008 14:59 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Search interfaces for on-line map libraries -- examples of good practice Many members of this list are familiar with the Vision of Britain web site, and some of you have helped build it by loaning us maps. It contains images of many historical maps, but it is not really a map library: the historical maps are linked together into a small number of continuous mosaics, and treated as GIS content. We are now working on a major new version of the system, with JISC funding, and we want it to work as an on-line map library while retaining the current functionality: <> We have worked out how to hold all the metadata about the maps, as used by our MapServer software, in a single database table so that it can be conventionally searched. <> Where maps have been cropped and, sometimes, re-projected to be parts of mosaics, we will also hold an uncropped and un-re-projected image of the map. These images will be viewable using IIPimage software. <> Some of the maps, such as the maps of towns in the 1831/2 Boundary Commission report, are too topographically inaccurate to re-project, etc, but EVERY map in the collection will be basically geo-referenced via a bounding box. <> At present, going to our "Historical Mapping" option takes you straight into a viewer. In the new site it will take you to a specialised home page, like those for census reports and travel writing. This will tell you about the collection, and include a way into the viewer, but it will also allow you to search for maps. Where we need help is on that search mechanism. The idea is that users should be able to do searches on the purely textual information held in our "map catalogue" database table, just like the searches they could do on a traditional card catalogue, but they should also be able to narrow searches making use of the fact that every map will be geo-referenced. For example, we could include a zoomable map on that page, and use the area it currently shows as a bounding box to limit the current search. CAN LIST MEMBERS SUGGEST EXISTING MAP LIBRARY SITES WITH THIS KIND OF FEATURE? We are also thinking about including a simple classification of our map; what we currently hold can be divided roughly into: -- General topographic maps -- Maps of political and administrative boundaries -- Land use mapping Are there any standards we should be following here? The current contents of the system is basically: -- OS New Popular 1" maps of GB -- OS First Series 1" maps of GB -- Stamp Land Utilisation Survey 1" maps of GB ... in all cases together with less detailed maps of the same date and topic. The new system will add, primarily: -- GSGS mapping of the whole of Europe at 1:500,000 scale -- A fairly complete set of British administrative area maps, excluding those still within OS copyright and including all the maps in the Parliamentary Boundary Commission reports The extension of our infrastructure to cover the whole of Europe means we could add a great deal more, given further funding. Our general aim is not to include the unique gems in our existing paper map collection (because we do not have one), but rather to provide a really useful reference collection, integrated with other geographical information -- although we are STILL looking for a good descriptive gazetteer of Europe. With thanks for whatever suggestions you can make, Humphrey Southall *********************************************************************** Visit the National Library of Scotland online at www.nls.uk CELEBRATING 500 YEARS OF SCOTTISH PRINTING 1508-2008 http://www.500yearsofprinting.org *********************************************************************** Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the ICT Helpdesk on +44 131 623 3700 or [log in to unmask] and delete this e-mail. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Library of Scotland. The National Library of Scotland is a registered Scottish charity. Scottish Charity No. SC011086. 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