From: Michael M. Butler (butler@comp-lib.org)
Date: Thu Mar 07 2002 - 12:23:24 MST
Very fuckin' cool. 10k maps per year? Bring it on! --MMB
PS: I apologize for using a bad marklar.
> This Is a Real Quest for Maps
>
> David Rumsey's online map collection has introduced
> a revolutionary, accessible way for people to experience
> old maps by comparing them to modern geospatial data.
>
> By Kendra Mayfield
> ?
> 2:00 a.m. March 7, 2002 PST
>
> http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,50785,00.html
> http://www.davidrumsey.com/
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
> When David Rumsey decided to take his private collection of 19th and 20th
> century maps public, even the world's largest library couldn't handle the
> load.
>
> So, rather than donate his vast collection of 150,000 maps to the Library of
> Congress, Rumsey decided to put it online.
> ????
> "With institutions (like the Library of Congress), the access you can get is
> not nearly as much as the Internet might provide," said Rumsey, president of
> Cartography Associates. "I realized I could reach a much larger audience
> with the Internet."
>
> The result is an extraordinary online compilation of more than 6,500
> high-resolution digital images from one of the largest private collections
> in the United States.
>
> In 1997, Rumsey partnered with Luna Imaging to digitize his collection and
> allow users to search, zoom, pan and print these age-old maps.
>
> But merely posting images online wasn't enough; Rumsey wanted to give users
> an unparalleled experience in the physical world of cartography.
>
> So last year, Rumsey introduced a GIS (Geographical Information System)
> browser, using visualization software developed by Telemorphic.
>
> With the GIS browser, users can overlay multiple maps from different time
> periods with current geospatial data, like roads, lakes, parks, aerial
> photos and satellite imagery. They can also create, save and print their own
> custom maps to trace changes in a geographic area's history, population or
> culture.
>
> "(GIS) changes the way that people experience old maps by letting them
> compare (these maps) to modern data," Rumsey said. "This will bring both
> historical information into the world of GIS and it will also bring the art
> of old maps into the world of GIS."
>
> Rumsey is the first collector to make GIS freely available to people through
> the Internet. That effort is part of his plan to "keep access open and free"
> to his entire collection.
>
> Rumsey uses a digital camera to scan three-dimensional items such as
> atlases, globes and books. Images are scanned at a high resolution of at
> least 300 pixels per inch, with some extremely detailed maps scanned at 600
> pixels per inch "to give a sense of the texture of paper."
>
> Scanned images undergo a technique called rectification or "rubber
> sheeting," whereby an image from an old map is warped to fit another image
> with more accurate, modern geospatial data. It takes approximately three
> hours to rubber sheet each individual map.
>
> Cartographers, GIS professionals, historians and map enthusiasts can use
> this data to pinpoint a particular address, find out how towns were
> populated, how railroads evolved or how European explorers discovered the
> American West.
>
> The GIS browser allows users to compare 11 different historic maps from
> Rumsey's collection with aerial photos to see how the San Francisco Bay area
> changed from 1851 to 1926. Geographers can trace changes in the San
> Francisco coastline over the past century to determine what parts of the
> city are subject to liquefaction and earthquake damage.
>
> This week, Rumsey will introduce 18 historic maps of Boston. He will later
> include other major U.S. cities, states, countries and continents. He hopes
> to have 500 historical maps in GIS by the end of the year.
>
> GIS has been slow to move to the Internet because it has typically been
> limited to users who can afford the high cost of data, software and hardware
> packages on the desktop, such as NASA scientists and Department of Defense
> analysts.
>
> Rumsey's digital project has also dramatically altered his collection goals.
>
> He is currently doing a collaborative project with the Library of Congress
> to fuse the two map collections online. MapLibraries.com, which currently
> holds about 250 images, will eventually include more than 10,000 images.
>
> Rumsey's ultimate goal is to digitize 50,000 maps in the next five years.
> His maps will eventually include interactive 3-D visualization tools.
>
> "He is really paving the way to deliver more geospatial content, information
> and tools for anybody with a Web browser and an Internet connection to see
> how geospatial content and history relate to each other," said Todd Helt,
> president and co-founder of Telemorphic.
>
> [Image]
>
> ?
> An 1852 Britton & Rey map of San Francisco Bay (upper left), is shown with a
> 1926 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey map (lower right), a more recent map
> known as a digital raster graphic (upper right), and a digital orthophoto
> (lower left). The QuadView feature of David Rumsey's Internet GIS service
> allows people to combine several different maps in one view for easy
> visualization of geographical changes over time.
>
> [Image]
>
> Celestial map of the constellations for each month from Elijah Burritt's
> Celestial Atlas (1835).
>
> [Image]
>
> Celestial map of zodiac constellations for each month of the year from
> Elijah Burritt's Celestial Atlas (1835). ?
> ?
>
> [Image]
>
> A circumpolar map of constellations throughout the year, from Elijah
> Burritt's Celestial Atlas (1835). ?
>
--
butler a t comp - lib . o r g
I am not here to have an argument. I am here as part of a civilization.
Sometimes I forget.
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