Reading Historical Maps Digitally: How Spatial Technologies Can Enable Close, Distant and Dynamic Interpretations

David Rumsey gave the opening keynote lecture for the Digital Humanities 2011 Conference at Stanford University on June 19, 2011.

Abstract of the talk: Maps are dense, complex information systems arranged spatially. While they share similarities with other visual artifacts, their uniqueness as spatially arranged visual information both allows for and demands special digital approaches to understand and reuse their content. Georeferencing, vectorization, virtual reality, image databases, and GIS-related tools all work to unite our eyes, minds, and computers in new ways that can make historical maps more valuable and accessible to humanists concerned with place and space over time. Rumsey will explore the tools and techniques that have implications for the ways digital humanists approach visual information.

3 Comments on Reading Historical Maps Digitally: How Spatial Technologies Can Enable Close, Distant and Dynamic Interpretations
Sebastian Grant on October 15, 2011 at 5:37AM wrote:

A wonderful talk. This website and this man set standards of description and presentation that hopefully will spread into both digital collections of the old and the visualizations/information architecture of the future. All ways of life can be enriched by these integral structures that require creativity to be a part of our everyday, clerical tasks. Futuristic, acedemic and humanist… swoon.

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AMIR on June 21, 2013 at 2:48AM wrote:

THANK YOU #

Jim Hooghkirk on June 16, 2014 at 1:41PM wrote:

I will echo these sentiments. What a wonderful collection! #