Libraries, archives and other culture heritage institutions have begun a process of massive scanning and publishing of historical maps. A scanned map is only a picture and not a map at all: it is not searchable geographically and cannot be compared with other maps. Georeferencer is an online service which helps to turn the existing scans into true maps.
We offer development of customized web applications based on this service.
Georeferencer gives libraries and archives a simple way how to make their scanned map collections more attractive, how to engage online visitors and general public, provide attractive 3D visualization of maps via Google Earth, make overlays with other maps, deliver standardized Web Map Service (OGC WMS) and in the same moment also enrich existing metadata records with numerical spatial footprint to allow comfortable geographical searching in the future. The tools are available directly in a web browser, without a need of installing any software neither in the institution nor on the side of the online visitors.
The tool can be used by library staff as well as by volunteers, either in groups explicitly organized for this task by the institution or simply by volunteers recruited from online visitors and general public – via so called “crowdsourcing”. In all cases, by using the Georeferencer tool the volunteers can trough an easy and enjoyable process georeference the scanned historical maps and then visualize them in 3D, conduct research and analysis on the online images published on the web as well as overlay these maps with each other and or with modern base maps and recent aerial or satellite imagery. Next to that the library receives a valuable metadata and information about the exact spatial footprint of individual maps in a numerical form, which is very practical for geographical searching with systems such as the MapRank Search. This enrichment of metadata is normally problematic and very time consuming process and with the help of online volunteers it can be simplified and speed up to maximal extent, as experience from pilot projects proved. The new metadata can be easily embedded into the library catalog in a form of MARC field 034 or Dublin Core DCMI Box by the library.
For any questions or information regarding implementation of Georeferencer in your organization, please contact us.
