Advocacy for a Cartographic Digitization Registry Plaidoyer pour un registre des projets de numérisation de collections cartographiques Léon Robichaud Département d'histoire Université de Sherbrooke / Laboratoire d'histoire et de patrimoine de Montréal Erin Forward Stauffer Library Queen’s University CARTO 2014, Montréal, QC 2014/06/19

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

HGIS 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:

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 Zotero Humanities GIS group Wikipedia list of GIS software org/wiki/List_of_geographic_information_systems_software org/wiki/List_of_geographic_information_systems_software Bamboo Dirt list of tools

of registry sites / platforms

ALA MAGIRT Map Scanning Registry 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 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

Inventories & 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 inventory The spreadsheet records the following data:

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) Digitized topographic maps covering the territory of Québec Toutes les cartes à l'échelle 1: sont numérisées Toutes les cartes à l'échelle 1: sont numérisées Toutes les cartes à l'échelle 1: antérieures à 1964 sont numérisées

University of Alberta 3-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)llalibertecontact

OCUL Schools University of Ottawa ▫ Approximately :63,360 maps scanned (Spring 2013), 50 more to come (Summer 2014) McMaster University ▫ About :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

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 / Commentaires