Geo-referencing maps
Spatial data and geo-referenced maps serve as the basis for answering a diverse range of scientific questions and are thus increasingly in demand in research and education.
But the geo-referencing of historical, digitised maps is arduous and can often only be done by hand. So we’re counting on your support!
After our exceptionally successful first round of crowdsourcing in early 2017, there are now over 1,700 more historical maps from the holdings of ETH Library ready for geo-referencing. One special feature of these maps is that they are mostly from the 19th century, so they do not yet have geographical coordinates such as ETH Library records for individual maps. The challenge of being able to suitably geo-reference these “hidden maps” is therefore somewhat greater.
Once completed, you will also be able to access the geo-referenced maps in the portal external page OldMapsOnline.org. All maps and atlases are already be searchable now at the ETH Library search portal and on the platform external page e-rara.ch.