Here is the link to my map:
Introduction:
I chose to use the map of the Municipality of Northfield from 1968. This map shows the streets of a portion of Northfield. While looking for the points, I noticed that the streets of Northfield haven’t changed much when compared to the modern map. However, I found that the bodies of water have changed the most.
My Thoughts:
This process made me realize that a lot more work goes into creating spatial DH projects than I initially anticipated. Some spatial DH projects look very simple, like the Coffee Place Geography project, while others are more complex, like the How Your Hometown Affects Your Chances of Marriage project, where you hover the mouse over a certain area to get more detailed information on each place.
I explored both the 3D format and the compare formats. Exploring these formats made the project more interesting because I got to see my map in different ways. It also provided more information on the maps using the compare feature.
Once the map is georeferenced, I see multiple possibilities. First, I would say that georeferencing a map makes it more interactive and user-friendly. You can also extract a lot more information from maps once they are georeferenced. For example, you can compare old maps to current ones.
I think the biggest challenge I faced when georeferencing was the quality of the map I chose. The map was clear on the website I got it from, but after downloading it and adding it to the georeferencing website, the map became blurry when I tried zooming in. To navigate this issue, when placing the points to make the map as accurate as possible, I went back to the original site to zoom in and read the street names. Then, I returned to the georeferencing site to place the points. Another possible issue could be finding historical locations that no longer appear on current maps or locations that have changed so drastically that they are almost unrecognizable.
This method would be useful for a wide variety of tasks in Digital Humanities, and that is evident in all of the spatial DH projects we explored. I think this method might be a little tricky due to the possibility of inaccuracies. Therefore, more scientific and data-driven fields might find this method less appropriate because they require maximum accuracy in their work.
Overall, I enjoyed this experience and would like to experiment more with it in the future.
