Historical Map Collections on Geospatial Web

Abstract

<jats:p> The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) and the University of New Brunswick Archives (UNBA) maintain a rich collection of historical maps and plans of the City of Fredericton dating back to the 17th Century. This content is in the form of microfiches and paper maps, which are difficult to be accessed and used by researchers and educators. Recently, a series of microfiches and maps have been scanned and are already available in digital form. Going a step further, the advancements in geospatial web technology have been applied to make this digital content a valuable resource of historical information for the endusers. A prototype system has been developed and tested for a set of representative historical maps and plans. The system provides the following functionality: (a) geo-referenced scanned maps can be archived into a geospatial catalog; (b) appropriate metadata can be attached to them; (c) the maps can be superimposed and visualized on top of recent base maps (e.g., Google Maps, Bing Maps, Open Street Map); and (d) the catalog content can be searched and disseminated on the web using geospatial standards. End-users have been exposed to the prototype and evaluated its functionality. Their comments highlight the potential of the prototype in the study of cultural heritage and historical documentation. </jats:p>

Large geospatial images discovery: metadata model and technological framework

“…printed maps, journals, atlases, globes etc.). With the onset of digital era also the development strategies of libraries moved towards online distribution and constant request so as to provide improvable and innovative services for their users [27,24]. Plenty of initiative has published early maps through geoportals, i.e.…”