Lost and Fo(u)nd: Map and Visual Literacy in the Archives

Have you ever looked at a photo and wondered where it was taken? Have used an interactive map to browse historical photos, letters, newspaper articles, or pamphlets? Have you ever thought: wouldn’t it be great if we could do something like that at my institution? Or help instructors implement this in their courses? Online technologies and platforms such as Google Earth, History Pin, Neatline for Omeka, make it easy to display the geographic location of digital objects. In addition, libraries and archives with digital collection platforms such as DSpace or Islandora can enhance their metadata by including geographic coordinates of digital objects. But there is a catch…the challenge is determining the geographic location of a photo (or objects) and to do it precisely and accurately. For several years, the Map and GIS Librarian at York University has partnered with archivists at the Clara Thomas Archives and Special collections, to geo-locate several their fonds. Using examples from the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, this presentation will challenge you to look for critically at digital objects (such as landscape photos) and look for clues that can be used to “geolocate” the objects. The presentation will discuss the core set of information, visual, and map literacy skills that are required to geo-locate objects; provide suggestions on types of information sources that can be used to geo-locate objects, and highlight the role and expertise of a Map/GIS/ information professionals in geo-location projects.