U-Spatial, our GIS unit on campus, created this historical country
boundaries layer
<https://umn.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=85e35d64d67f425c94ebca45dad6568a>
for Esri a couple of years ago. They also did major empires
<https://umn.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=1bb885a34b44491eb06c5681dd009d11>
and
quite a few other (contemporary) layers
<https://umn.maps.arcgis.com/home/search.html?q=owner%3A%22University_of_Minnesota%22%20&restrict=false&start=1&num=20&focus=layers>
.

On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 12:16 PM Eliza Bettinger <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Kathleen,
>
>
> Oooh, I love this idea. Both the sharing out of this particular data set,
> and in general, historical boundary digitizing as a useful task for GIS
> student library workers to contribute to.
>
>
> Which web services are you referring to that have historical world
> boundaries?
>
> Also, what is IGN? Is it a French national mapping service?
>
>
> Cheers
>
> eliza
>
>
> --
>
> Eliza Bettinger
>
> Digital Humanities Librarian
>
> Research and Learning Services
>
> 106 Olin Library
>
> Cornell University
>
> Ithaca NY 14853 USA
>
> 607-255-4042 (office)
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> on behalf
> of Weessies, Kathleen <[log in to unmask]>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 2, 2019 12:09:57 PM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Re: Historical French colonial boundaries in Africa
>
>
> We’ve been talking about having a GIS student create some historical world
> boundary shapefiles.  They don’t seem to exist as shapefiles, only as a web
> service.  If we develop some, we could host the shapefiles on our ArcOnline
> site, or we could host it on the Big Ten Academic Alliance ArcOnline site
> (or both).
>
>
>
> French West Africa is an area of interest to us, something to consider.
> If your student does end up making one before we get around to it, please
> encourage her to share it!  We will host it permanently and of course
> plaster her name all over the metadata!
>
>
>
> One question we ran into right away is, whose version of boundaries do you
> follow?  For world post-1945 we’ll probably use United Nations maps as
> reference.  For French West Africa it makes sense to use IGN, an easier
> decision.
>
>
>
> Kathleen Weessies
>
> Social Sciences Coordinator; Head, Map Library
>
> Michigan State University
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> 517-884-0849
>
>
>
> *From:* Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> *On Behalf
> Of *Eliza Bettinger
> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 2, 2019 8:09 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Historical French colonial boundaries in Africa
>
>
>
> Hello All,
>
>
>
> This is a long shot, but I'm wondering if any of you have a lead on GIS
> data containing boundaries of colonial French West Africa down to the
> cercle (political administration subunit) level. My patron (a grad student)
> is looking for data from about 1925.
>
>
>
> My guess is that her only hope will be to trace a historic map image, but
> wanted to reach out to see if there's anyone out there will boundaries
> already created that they're willing to share.
>
>
>
> All the best,
>
> Eliza
>
>
>
> --
>
> Eliza Bettinger
>
> Digital Humanities Librarian
>
> Research and Learning Services
>
> 106 Olin Library
>
> Cornell University
>
> Ithaca NY 14853 USA
>
> 607-255-4042 (office)
>


-- 
Ryan Mattke
Map & Geospatial Information Librarian

Head, John R. Borchert Map Library <https://www.lib.umn.edu/borchert>
Adjunct Faculty, MGIS Program <http://cla.umn.edu/mgis>
Project Lead, Big Ten Academic Alliance Geospatial Data Project
<https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/btaa-gdp/>
Co-Director, Mapping Prejudice Project <https://www.mappingprejudice.org/>

Phone: 612.624.5757
Web: http://www.lib.umn.edu/borchert <https://www.lib.umn.edu/borchert>
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8816-9289