Week 6 Reflection Blog: Georeference

This week I used the David Rumsey Map Collection website to rectify an older map of the Boston Harbor to match the geographical appearance of what it looks like today. The map can be displayed in a few different formats, such as with the ArcGIA and QGIS apps or in an iiif format. In terms of understanding digital humanities spatial projects, I saw this as one application of this technology. In overlaying the old map with the Google Maps-like render of the Boston Harbor, I could see the differences and manually adjust the points on both maps so that they overlap better. In looking at the other projects, I saw a lot of them deal with plotting points where certain objects or people were seen on top of a modern map of a country or continent, as well as as charting patterns of movement across centuries. To me, some of the most useful applications of this technology is seeing how land has changed over time and displaying movement and presence of certain people or objects in a certain area of the world over time. One next step for my map could be charting sea vessel passages going in and out of Boston starting from the 17th or 18th century; another could be creating a timeline that describes the changes in land composition of the Boston Harbor over time.

These methods are certainly revolutionary, but some potential problems could be that rectifying some maps may be harder than others. Some older maps may be too inaccurate to meld to the shapes of modern depictions, causing major distortions. Additionally, there could be deficits in detail from the older maps that don’t provide enough reference points to compare to modern depictions, making it hard to chart additional historical details. Also, I feel that this technology is only as good as information we can gather from past records if working on a project that involves charting routes or sightings of things. The representation may not be useful if there are gaps in knowledge or if there isn’t a sufficient amount of information available.

Spatial innovations are applicable to a wide variety of fields, but the way in which digital humanists use it would not be useful in certain other areas. This method of use would not be helpful in tracking shifts in earth composition and ecosystems or study chemical imbalances, as studied in more STEM-oriented research fields.