Information Services Team Blog

But thou at home without or tyde or gale; Canst in thy Map securely saile: –  Robert Herrick

I "securely saile" down Algonquin canoe routes, drive  the country roads of Devon on Street View and  time travel to my home's location in 1915.  To my great pleasure I attended two  presentations at OLA that had maps at their heart and, also, rediscovered several  TPL mapping initiatives.

Incorparating Mapping Technology into Libray Services

Eva Dodsworth is the Geospatial Data Services Librarian at the University of Waterloo and works with Geographical Information Systems. An early example of this type of information representation was seen in John Snow's map of the cholera outbreak in London in 1854. GIS simply takes this to the computer in a field that combines cartography, statistics and databases.  Eva showed us how she used GIS to explore the expansion of the County of Waterloo  from 1955 to the present day.

GIS is also used in georeferencing  antiquarian maps in the NYPL collection.  Here library users, using  Map Warper, overlay old maps on the new city grid to rectify them and chart changes.  

Dodsworth is the author of Getting Started with GIS.

Library Mobile Architecture Project

Graham McCarthy from Ryerson Library showcased the app he and Vincent Hui of the Ryerson  School of Architecture developed.  This free app provides maps, architectural tours,  history of  buildings  hi-resolution images and  floor plans. Through the use of GPS and augmented reality you can scan'the horizon and bring up the building information.

TPL Initiatives: The Digital Archive

Digitization at TPL has resulted in some excellent on-line maps for the staff and public. Digitized Toronto Fire Insurance Maps are invaluable for researching early Toronto and tracing the history of your area or home.  TPL's Local History and Genealogy blog contains detailed  instructions in their use.

I was  recently introduced to a TPL resource that is of great value to  Branches, especially those with no Local History collection.  Information and images from the Digital Archives and catalogue are linked directly to a map of Toronto Neighbourhoods. You select your neigbourhood and retrieve a list of websites, books, digital maps, scanned pictures and other resources.  

“They were maps that lived, maps that one could study, frown over, and add to; maps, in short, that really meant something.”
Gerrald Durrell