The Big Idea
This IMLS National Leadership Grant for Libraries-Digitization Program "Building a Globally Distributed Historical Sheet Map Set" has built a metadata-driven, dynamic access tool that enables the user to access and view scanned and geo-referenced map images by querying a digital gazetteer or place name.
The Goal
To build a scalable structure for the distributed sharing of significant sheet map collections in an international, metadata-driven, web-based environment.
The Objectives
- An inital focus on the "Spezialkarte der Oesterreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie im Masse 1:75,000 der Natur." This set was published in Vienna over the period, 1877-1914. The set is 776 sheets with all editions of all sheets numbering over 3,665.
- A workflow and process to scan map sheets, geo-reference imagery, describe map sheet digital object metadata, and store map sheet digital objects on participating library servers.
- Access using place names with variant typonymy.
- Provide to user community.
The Initial Issues
- Rendering placenames with diacritics and using Unicode.
- To 'clip' or not to 'clip' map sheets. If sheets are clipped, what to do with marginalia.
- Resolution of image. (recommend 300dpi).
- Supporting ESRI server products in libraries.