We just completed a 4-week trial of FiMO. Definitely liked it, esp. the interface and how it overlays onto a modern map for context. And not just Sanborn, but some local cadastral atlases as well. For our customers the ability to use the georeferenced version is valuable.

It's not cheap, so we'll need to find budgeting for this, but are interested.

Craig

Craig Haggit
Senior Catalog Librarian, Western History and Genealogy Dept.
Denver Public Library
10 West 14th Ave. Parkway
Denver, CO  80204
720-865-1813


On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 11:25 AM Eliza Bettinger <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

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

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Eliza Bettinger

Digital Humanities Librarian

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Cornell University 

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