A University of Portsmouth website has been judged to be essential reading for future generations.
The site, that allows users to browse historical maps from around the world, features in a list that also includes twitter, Facebook and eBay.
A screenshot of Old Maps Online
The list is curated by a consortium of UK libraries and includes the top 100 websitesthat will be required reading for people researching how life was in 2013.
The site is called Old Maps Online and is described by the curators as “revolutionising the way in which we conduct historical research”. They also say that it “will be invaluable for future researchers wishing to dive through layers of history geographically”.
Described as ‘like Google for old maps,’ visitors can access a vast range of historical maps, showing all parts of the world and held by institutions across the globe. The free resource provides a single entry point for academics and amateur historians alike and is the first time that access to such an extensive collection has been made available online.
Director of the project, Dr Humphrey Southall, of the Department of Geography, said: “It’s a great honour to be recognised in this way. Old Maps Online is a resource that brings together maps from around the world, with over 130,000 available to view at the last count.
“We hope it will be useful for future generations, and we’re glad to be a part of this exciting project and to have the value of what we have achieved recognised.”
The site incorporates access to maps from some of the most diverse collections in the world including collections from the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the Moravian Library in the Czech Republic and the prestigious David Rumsey Collection in California. The project, worth £180,000, has been funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).
The site was created by Petr Pridal, of Swiss company Klokan Technologies Gmbh.
On 6 April 2013, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, Bodleian Libraries, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Dublin, gained powers to archive the entire UK web, along with e-journals, e-books and other formats.
“Stuff out there on the web is ephemeral,” said Lucie Burgess, the library’s head of content strategy. “The average life of a web page is only 75 days, because websites change, the contents get taken down.
“If we don’t capture this material, a critical piece of the jigsaw puzzle of our understanding of the 21st century will be lost.”
