A British Library / Klokan Technologies / Moravian Library partnership

Improvements to crowdsourced georeferencing using Georeferencer, and its implementation at

the British Library Petr Pridal, Managing Director, Klokan Technologies GmbH

Kimberly C. Kowal, Lead Curator Digital Mapping, The British LibraryVaclav Klusak, Moravian Library

Georeferencer

• Work by Klokan Technologies and the Moravian Library, part of the TEMAP.cz project.

• A free, on-line tool for georeferencing of map images already published on the web in digital repositories.

• Provides metadata enrichment and crowd-sourcing ability to libraries and other institutions for their scanned maps.

Workflow

• The library provides data for their map collection in the form of an Excel of CSV file (identifier, link to zoomable image, metadata).

• Members of the general public work on georeferencing these maps through a customized web interface.

• The library receives geographical coordinates for their maps, usable eg. in MapRank Search.

Principles

• We use the original image repository. Integration & full credit (institution logo).

• We provide customized design, progress indicators, eye-catching graphs, live widgets, and 3D visualizations (Google Earth) to motivate collaborators.

• We are able to deliver geodata or WMS service for the maps.

• Stable. Work in progress.• Public version at www.georeferencer.org.• New features public soon:

–Improved design for the user interface–Browser plugins (Chrome/Firefox/..)–Authentication with Google/Facebook/Twitter

• Pilots in libraries–Customized design & crowd-sourcing widgets–Integration with library web, export for lib. catalog

Status

• 725 maps assigned spatial metadata• finished in 5 days: 13-18 February 2012• Publicity minimal – social media *key*• ~90 participants• Top five completed half the work• Data quality good: <3% had errors >.

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Quick Facts

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Ordnance Survey drawings

Original large-scale drawings made for the famous one-inch-to-the-mile maps. England and Wales, 1780-1840.

Part of Staffordshire Containing 100 Square Miles Surveyed by Mr Field and Drawn by Mr Stevens (detail). Pen and ink on paper. 1817. British Library shelfmark: OSD 210.

Crace Collection of maps of London

BAYNARDS CASTLE AND FARINGDON WARD WITHIN with their Divisions into Parishes according to a new SURVEY. (detail). Cole, B. engraver. 1754.

British Library shelfmark: Maps Crace VIII.25

Illustrating development of the city and its immediate vicinity from ca 1570 - 1860

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http://maps.bl.uk

http://player.vimeo.com/video/36419466

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http://maps.bl.uk

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Competitive Crowdsourcing

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(20 maps)

What made it work…

Content relevant

Accessibility and convenience of application

Activity engagingImmediate results and feedback

Competitive crowdsourcing tools

Recognition and visible overall contribution

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Thank you.