Good Deed of the Day: Help Geo-Reference the British Library’s Map Collection

The British Library needs your help.

It is in the process of turning its gargantuan collection of maps into a digital resource tied to Google Earth. This allows people to see ancient and modern maps at the same time, with a slider to fade between the centuries. It’s easy to compare a city to its younger self, or observe the geographic impact of dams, bulkheads, and embankments. You can spot the mistakes — or marvel at the accuracy — of mapmakers working in the pre-electric age.

But for this to happen, the Library needs people to set up control points linking old maps to satellite data. It’s simple: you find recognizable locations and join them. Then, the software uses your input to mesh the two maps. (You can learn about georeferencing and be assigned a random map here.)

Read more. [Images: The British Library]

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6. honeybadgerchild reblogged this from theatlantic and added:

   Do this in class instead of Facebook.

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    um COOL

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    As if I needed a new hobby.

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31. barbiefaced reblogged this from stephenkennedy and added:

    Good Deed of the Day: Help Geo-Reference the British Library’s Map Collection The British Library needs your help. It is...

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39. zamorastudio reblogged this from theatlantic and added:

    Interesting

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46. southern-humidity reblogged this from southern-humidity and added:

    Update: I just did my first map! Sooo much fun. I’m sure I’ll be doing this instead of my homework pretty soon.

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49. noir-fox reblogged this from theatlantic and added:

    Whenever this project is finished writers will crash the site. That sounds so useful.

50. smileatleast reblogged this from fuckyeahgeographyalligator and added:

    Good Lord Yes. I am a georeferencing wizard.

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