Around 18,000 maps are in use on that tool now and this is all done via our API via queries to our server.Ĭhris Fleet talks about the NLS mapping APIs and Georeferencer. One website we are now involved in engaging with is ScotlandsPlaces, an RCAHMS project to combine objects and places in one search. Once the maps are in places new possibilities open up. They have not only used our API but are also in the process of georeferencing a set of Bartholomew maps of England that we hope to put on our website as well. They are very hardworking and interested in historical maps.
For the Portable Antiquities Scheme finds are geographically referenced and though this is originally done on a Google Map interface a historical layer can also be used to show the find in it’s historic context.There are multiple servers so it can deliver maps for all sorts of uses.
We have also recently developed a dynamic API and that allows sets of historic mapping from the 1930s to be easily delivered and incorporated into any other website – so they can be shown on an iPhone or on a website or used in OpenStreetMap. Maps can be bundled in many ways and in the case of the Walking Through Time project maps were made available through mobile. For instance Heritage Paths have been creating walking routes with heritage relevance and combining this with historical maps is very simple. In terms of collaborative applications we make mapping available and others are using these for their specific need. Despite our focus on Scotland we’re not fussy! We are happy to share georeferenced maps on our website from anywhere in the world.
We also had a student interested in the military mapping of Belgium and 1940s mapping and he was kind enough to give the data he created around these resources back to us so we now have a good array of Belgian military maps as well. Using these tools we’ve been able to make available all sorts of resources from detailed historical town plans as well as the 1903 Bathymetrical Survey Maps.
MapTiler is the tool that the NLS use, it is a free open source software for creating georeferenced tiled maps.Ĭhris Fleet of the National Library of Scotland talks about digitising historic maps. And there is a NLS WMS for 1930s historic maps which can be layered on a Google type interface.Ī georeference consists of two numbers, an easting and a northing, and can identify a unique tile which can be set up as a URL. However for the last few years we have been making georeferenced historical maps available as applications – web applications, mobile applications and through a georeferencer tool. But it is worth noting that we also have access to the last 15 years of the most detailed Ordnance Survey MasterMap data available to those visiting the NLS. When we talk about the National Library of Scotland’s digitisation of historic maps we are talking about historical maps which are out of copyright and are listed on our website. For example if we look at Broughton in the 19 th Century the village of Broughton was encroached upon by the ever expanding New Town and we can see this vividly on a map of the time. “It is important to be sceptical about maps and the kind of views they give: decoding and understanding cartographic silences is a very interesting process and allows us to read maps much more intelligently. He is currently Senior Map Curator at NLS, and a partner in the AddressingHistory and Visualising Urban Geographies projects.
His main work has focused on digital mapping, particularly scanning and making available historic maps on the NLS website, as well as working with modern digital map applications. Chris Fleet, Senior Map Curator, National Library of Scotland: NLS Digitised Historic Mapping WorkĬhris Fleet worked in the Bodleian Library, Oxford and the National Library of Wales, prior to joining the National Library of Scotland (NLS) in 1994. Your live blogger today is Nicola Osborne of the AddressingHistory Project Team. Note: This blog post is the tidied up and illustrated version of a post typed live from the venue during the AddressingHistory launch.