[le message en français suit la version anglaise]
Ontario University Libraries Collaborate to Release Over 1000 Historical Maps Online
- April 4, 2017
[For immediate release]
Coinciding with the celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary and the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) 50th anniversary, Ontario’s university libraries are releasing a collection of over 1000 historical topographic maps of Ontario. The project highlights Ontario’s rich history and changing landscape over the past 100 years, and is evidence of how Ontario’s academic libraries continue to play a key role in preserving our national and provincial heritage in the digital age.
The project is a province-wide collaboration, led by the OCUL Geo Community, an open forum for the exchange of information relating to maps and GIS, to digitize and geocode early topographic maps of Ontario at the 1:25000 and 1:63360 scales. The maps were originally produced by the Department of National Defence (until 1923: the Department of Militia and Defence) and show a variety of both natural and man-made features covering towns, cities and their surrounding areas in Ontario, over the period of 1906 to 1977. This project represents the single most comprehensive digitization project of the early-National Topographic Series map collection in Canada.
Early topographic maps are heavily used by historians and researchers interested in examining change over time. The project aims to improve access to the maps by making them available online and offering visual exploration through the project website and in the Scholars GeoPortal platform. There is benefit for Ontario’s students in having access to these resources. “A project with the functionality of this one makes discovering the history of land use/development in Ontario far more accessible both for researchers and as a learning tool for students,” says Ted Wilush, McMaster University Bachelor of Commerce graduate, and map enthusiast.
Researchers and students can explore the maps and compare changes over time using the GeoPortal’s map viewer that contains current base map data and a transparency slider feature. “The ability to use layers to compare the same (map) sheet from multiple eras against both each other and a modern map/satellite image is invaluable”, Ted states.
Ontario’s university libraries have been working together through OCUL on initiatives such as this since 1967. “Preserving and expanding access to the broad research collections held by Ontario’s university libraries is at the core of OCUL’s collaboration,” explains Vivian Lewis, OCUL Chair and University Librarian at McMaster University. “It is exciting to have this collection digitized and openly available to the public.” The OCUL Geo Community (previously named the OCUL Map Group) formed in 1973 to communicate and collaborate on map projects, including a union catalogue of topographic maps. Moving forward, the group plans to engage with the larger map community in Canada about the project, and identify opportunities to build on it to include other maps from this national collection.
“We hope this is a first step to developing a national framework for map digitization in libraries and improving access to these rich historical maps for researchers and the public at-large,” states Lewis. In 2017, OCUL is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and this project demonstrates the ongoing success of this collaboration.
For more information about OCUL’s Historical Topographic Map Digitization Project visithttp://ocul.on.ca/topomaps
Coinciding with the celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary and the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) 50th anniversary, Ontario’s university libraries are releasing a collection of over 1000 historical topographic maps of Ontario. The project highlights Ontario’s rich history and changing landscape over the past 100 years, and is evidence of how Ontario’s academic libraries continue to play a key role in preserving our national and provincial heritage in the digital age.
The project is a province-wide collaboration, led by the OCUL Geo Community, an open forum for the exchange of information relating to maps and GIS, to digitize and geocode early topographic maps of Ontario at the 1:25000 and 1:63360 scales. The maps were originally produced by the Department of National Defence (until 1923: the Department of Militia and Defence) and show a variety of both natural and man-made features covering towns, cities and their surrounding areas in Ontario, over the period of 1906 to 1977. This project represents the single most comprehensive digitization project of the early-National Topographic Series map collection in Canada.
Early topographic maps are heavily used by historians and researchers interested in examining change over time. The project aims to improve access to the maps by making them available online and offering visual exploration through the project website and in the Scholars GeoPortal platform. There is benefit for Ontario’s students in having access to these resources. “A project with the functionality of this one makes discovering the history of land use/development in Ontario far more accessible both for researchers and as a learning tool for students,” says Ted Wilush, McMaster University Bachelor of Commerce graduate, and map enthusiast.
Researchers and students can explore the maps and compare changes over time using the GeoPortal’s map viewer that contains current base map data and a transparency slider feature. “The ability to use layers to compare the same (map) sheet from multiple eras against both each other and a modern map/satellite image is invaluable”, Ted states.
Ontario’s university libraries have been working together through OCUL on initiatives such as this since 1967. “Preserving and expanding access to the broad research collections held by Ontario’s university libraries is at the core of OCUL’s collaboration,” explains Vivian Lewis, OCUL Chair and University Librarian at McMaster University. “It is exciting to have this collection digitized and openly available to the public.” The OCUL Geo Community (previously named the OCUL Map Group) formed in 1973 to communicate and collaborate on map projects, including a union catalogue of topographic maps. Moving forward, the group plans to engage with the larger map community in Canada about the project, and identify opportunities to build on it to include other maps from this national collection.
“We hope this is a first step to developing a national framework for map digitization in libraries and improving access to these rich historical maps for researchers and the public at-large,” states Lewis. In 2017, OCUL is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and this project demonstrates the ongoing success of this collaboration.
For more information about OCUL’s Historical Topographic Map Digitization Project visithttp://ocul.on.ca/topomaps
Les bibliothèques universitaires de l’Ontario collaborent pour diffuser plus de 1 000 cartes historiques en ligne
- Le 4 avril 2017
[pour diffusion immédiate]
Le projet est une collaboration à l’échelle de la province, dirigé par la Communauté Géo du CBUO, avec un forum ouvert pour permettre l’échange d’information en rapport avec les cartes et le SIG. L’objectif est de numériser les premières cartes topographiques de l’Ontario à des échelles de 1:25000 et 1:63360. À l’origine, les cartes ont été produites par le Ministère de la Défense nationale (anciennement appelé le Ministère de la Milice et de la Défense jusqu’en 1923) et montrent plusieurs caractéristiques naturelles et artificielles couvrant des villages, des villes et des secteurs environnants de l’Ontario, entre 1906 et 1977. Il s’agit du projet de numérisation le plus complet au Canada en termes de collection de premières cartes topographiques nationales.
Les premières cartes topographiques ont été très souvent utilisées par des historiens et des chercheurs désirant étudier les nombreux changements naturels et artificiels au fil du temps. Ce projet a pour objectif d’améliorer l’accès aux cartes et de les rendre disponibles en ligne, tout en proposant une exploration visuelle avec l’aide du site web du projet et de la plateforme Scholars GeoPortal. Il existe de nombreux avantages pour les étudiants de l’Ontario d’avoir accès à de telles ressources. « Un projet avec de telles fonctions permet aux gens de découvrir l’histoire, les changements paysagers et l’utilisation des terres de l’Ontario, tout en permettant aux chercheurs et aux étudiants d’avoir un excellent outil d’apprentissage », explique Ted Wilush, titulaire d’un baccalauréat en commerce de l’Université McMaster et passionné des cartes.
Les chercheurs et les étudiants peuvent découvrir des cartes et comparer les changements au fil du temps en utilisant le visualiseur de carte GeoPortal. Cet outil contient des données actuelles de fond de carte et un curseur de transparence. « La possibilité d’utiliser plusieurs couches pour comparer la même feuille (carte) à partir de plusieurs autres historiques et de les superposer pour observer les nombreux changements avec une carte moderne, est tout simplement inestimable », explique Ted.
Les bibliothèques universitaires de l’Ontario ont travaillé ensemble, avec le soutien du CBUO, sur de nombreuses initiatives similaires depuis 1967. « La préservation et l’amélioration de l’accès à des collections de recherche détenues par les bibliothèques universitaires de l’Ontario est au cœur même de la collaboration du CBUO », explique Vivian Lewis, Présidente du CBUO et bibliothécaire en chef à l’Université McMaster. « C’est très stimulant d’avoir cette collection numérisée et qu’elle soit mise à disposition du grand public. »
« Nous espérons qu’il ne s’agit que de la première étape dans l’élaboration d’un cadre national de numérisation de cartes dans les bibliothèques et l’amélioration à l’accès de ces cartes historiques pour les chercheurs et le grand public », explique Lewis. Cette année, le CBUO célèbre son 50èmeanniversaire, et ce projet montre clairement la grande réussite de cette collaboration.
Pour plus de renseignements au sujet du projet de numérisation des cartes topographiques historiques du CBUO, veuillez visiter http://ocul.on.ca/topomaps
###