Advocacy for a Cartographic Digitization Registry

Plaidoyer pour un registre des projets de numérisation de collections cartographiques

Léon RobichaudDépartement d'histoireUniversité de Sherbrooke /Laboratoire d'histoire et de patrimoine de Montréal

Erin ForwardStauffer LibraryQueen’s University

CARTO 2014, Montréal, QC2014/06/19

Outline• Background of HGIS movement in Canada• Examples of registry sites / platforms• Canadian topographic maps inventories & digitization projects• How can ACMLA contribute?

BackgroundHGIS network Canada

Carto 2013, Edmonton

“Proposal for a Canadian Historical Geographic Information Network Byron Moldofsky and Marcel Fortin

Avoid duplication and reinventing the wheel Facilitate dissemination Create momentum around a common project Reference: http://www.hgis-sigh.ca/Carto2013_presentation.html

Canadian HGIS workshop

Montréal, 31 January – 1 February 2014 Hosted by Montréal, plaque tournante des échanges and BAnQ Objectives

Bring interested parties together Take stock regarding the current situation

Outcomes Create a geohistorical data portal to facilitate information sharing Eventually create a data repository

Existing resources

Bibliography of research in Canada http://www.hgis.usask.ca/bibliography/

Zotero Humanities GIS grouphttps://www.zotero.org/groups/humanitiesgis

Wikipedia list of GIS softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_GIS_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_geographic_information_systems_software

Bamboo Dirt list of toolshttp://dirt.projectbamboo.org/categories/mapping

Examplesof registry sites / platforms

ALA MAGIRT Map Scanning Registry• http://mapregistry.library.arizona.edu/• Launched in 2006• The ALA MAGIRT Map Scanning

Registry and the Western Association of Map Libraries (WAML) Scanning Project Clearinghouse have now been combined together

U.S. Government Digitization Projects Registry

• http://registry.fdlp.gov/• Serves as a locator tool for publicly

accessible collections of digitized U.S. Government publications

• About 20 collections contain maps• Includes projects in planning phase, in-

progress, on-going projects, completed and projects seeking collaborators

• Listings are maintained by contributors

Tools and resources for Canadian Historical GIS

Contribution of Montréal, plaque tournante des échanges Project based at the Université de Sherbrooke L. Robichaud, Kim Petit and Philippe Michon Drupal Content Management System

Imposes more constraints than a free form wiki or blog system Now RDF compliant → compatible with the semantic web and linked

data

Project metadata

Combination of Dublin Core (DCMI) and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)

Recommended in a report by the Geospatial Multistate Archive and Preservation Partnership (Geomapp) in collaboration with the Library of Congress

Goal of compatibility with GéoIndex+

Two types of items

Tools : software Resources: data

Tools

Help people identify the best tool for the job General GIS software Teaching oriented visualisation tools Research platforms Software libraries

Resources (datasets)

Avoid « regeoreferencing » Avoid « redrawing » administrative limits (census divisions/subdivisions) General geobase for different levels of precision (national, provincial, city)

Borders, streets, hydrography, divisions Historical and heritage attribute data

National level (rare), provincial level (varies), city level (can be very detailed)

Current situation

Building prototype to enter some cases and validate structure and process Translate documentation Discussions with collaborators

Validate metadata Validate classification

Engage community

Canadian Topographic MapsInventories & digitization projects

University of British Columbia• Inventory is ongoing, no current plans to digitize• Currently working on 1:50,000 and 1:63,360 (interfiled) inventory

(approximately 30,000 sheets)• Using Excel for inventoryThe spreadsheet records the following data:

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)

• http://services.banq.qc.ca/sdx/cep/• Digitized topographic maps covering the territory of Québec• Toutes les cartes à l'échelle 1:63 360 sont numérisées• Toutes les cartes à l'échelle 1:25 000 sont numérisées• Toutes les cartes à l'échelle 1:50 000 antérieures à 1964 sont numérisées

University of Alberta3-miles to 1-inch sectional maps of Western Canada

• Digitized about 240 maps • At least one Old Style and where

completed one New Style for each section was scanned

By llaliberte (contact)

OCUL Schools• University of Ottawa

▫Approximately 705 - 1:63,360 maps scanned (Spring 2013), 50 more to come (Summer 2014)

• McMaster University▫About 76 - 1:63,360 maps scanned, from southwestern Ontario

• OCUL▫Working on 1:63,360 inventory and holdings in Ontario▫Currently using lists provided by LAC, uOttawa, Queen’s, Western, &

McMaster

How can ACMLA contribute?Ideas, discussion, proposal

How can ACMLA contribute?• Propose an Ad hoc working group to gather information for best practices, to

collaborate with other associations and stakeholders and decide how best the ACMLA can contribute to the HGIS Network Canada

• Ideas▫Possibly concentrate efforts on Canadian Topographic maps ▫What would we like to see on a website?▫Do we want inventory of all maps and/or just digitized ones?

Discussion / Questions / CommentsDiscussion / Questions / Commentaires