McGill University Library Map Collection (About 22,000 Digitized Maps) Now Publicly Available on Canadiana

From the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN):

CRKN is pleased to announce that approximately 22,000 digitized Canadian maps have been added to the Canadiana Collection in partnership with McGill University Library. In addition to being publicly accessible on Canadiana.ca, the digitized maps will also be preserved in the Canadiana Trustworthy Digital Repository (TDR). These digital maps and data support longitudinal historical research and may be of interest to cross-disciplinary researchers studying land use and environmental change over time, including industrial development, urban studies, climate change, and more.

The maps, digitized by McGill University Library, are from the 1:50,000 scale National Topographic Series and date from 1905 to 2012. The maps depict in detail ground relief (landforms and terrain), drainage (lakes and rivers), forest cover, administrative areas, populated areas, transportation routes and facilities (including roads and railways), and other human-made features such as buildings, power lines and dams. The collection includes both colour and grayscale maps.

This collection represents the first time the Canadiana Collection has included a non-textual document type and is the first large-scale addition of CRKN member content to the Canadiana collection. The map collection benefits from Canadiana’s newly updated user interface, which includes an International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) viewer, with pan and zoom capabilities. Read more about the updated Canadiana interface.

Portions of the 1:50,000 scale National Topographic Series Map Collection are also available through Scholars GeoPortal and Borealis, where maps have been georeferenced to create geospatial datasets for open use in research and historical analysis.  Digitization, georeferencing, metadata, and infrastructure support are provided through funding from the University of Toronto Libraries, McGill University Libraries, and Compute Ontario.

This release builds on the role that academic libraries continue to play in preserving our national heritage and supporting digital research use of collections. To view the 1:50,000 scale National Topographic Series Map Collection, visit the Canadiana website.

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Data Files, Digital Preservation, Funding, Libraries, Maps, News, Open Access