Historical Maps Online
Abstract
For 20 years, David Rumsey assembled a collection of more than 150,000 historical maps of the Americas and the world. Motivated by a desire to make his private map collection a free public resource, Rumsey then created an online map library, http://www.davidrumsey.com/, which currently has over 10,000 high resolution images of maps from his collection. He has also built a suite of tools for users to experience and interpret the maps online. These include GIS, which allows users to combine historical maps with modern geospatial data to see change over time. The online map collection can be accessed over the Internet from search engines, library catalogs, GIS databases and many other entry points. Rumsey continues to add new content to the online collection and develops new tools that improve both the user experience and the online library architecture.
Description
Originally published: "Tales from the Vault: Historical Maps Online" by David Rumsey, Vol 3: No. 4, July 2003, of Common-place. Reprinted, updated and revised, with permission of Common-place.Subject
historical mapsGIS
online libraries
Luna Imaging
Insight
North America
South America
atlases
globes
school geographies
Collections
Citation
Rumsey, David Y. (2005). Historical Maps Online. ALA Map and Geography Round Table. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /129193.