Eliza,
It was a pleasure showing you and the other folks at Cornell our
FIMo service today. I would like to clarify a couple points regarding your email.
·
The Library of Congress will eventually have all the imagery we created of their maps posted online, but without the useful interface. They will not have maps which we digitized from
other sources.
·
Nobody has “all the maps”. There are maps with unique revision dates scattered all over the country. I see them everywhere I go. HIG is working to get as many digitized as possible
(If anyone is interested in having us digitize their collection of unique fire insurance maps, let me know. We only have a few small or medium sized projects in the queue at the moment).
·
Nobody is allowing the Sanborn copyrights to expire. They are reaching the end of their 95 year life. Over the next 8 years, the vast majority of original Sanborn copyrights will
expire. An explanation of status of the Sanborn company and its copyrights would require an entire article or presentation, which I may get around to one of these days.
Regards,
David
David Hodnefield Marla K. Smith
President Executive Assistant
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
952-253-2004 ext 111 952-253-2004 ext 119
Historical Information Gatherers (HIG)
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Eliza Bettinger
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2018 12:11 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fimo -- Sanborn Maps Online
Hello All,
I attended a demo today of
FIMO (Fire Maps Online – a database product sold by a company called Historical Information Gatherers), arranged by our Architecture librarian, whose patrons include historical preservationists. Fimo includes
a nearly full collection of full-color Sanborn maps – much better quality images than the ProQuest Sanborn Maps database, and an easier interface.
I’m wondering if any of you have purchased this product or seen a demo or had a trial at your library. Seems to me that more and more Sanborn maps are freely available
in high resolution online (and apparently more will go out of copyright soon?), but these collections are scattered. And if you’re a person without any specialized map or GIS knowledge, having tools like Fimo that automatically layer on contemporary base maps
is very attractive. Plus, Fimo claims to have all the corrected versions of maps (those little white pieces of paper they pasted over spots on the map.), and records of when the corrections were made.
I’d welcome your thoughts and observations!
Thanks,
eliza
--
Eliza Bettinger
Digital Humanities Librarian
she/her
106 Olin Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853 USA
607-255-4042 (office)