Digitizing Historical Maps

Build your 4D Time Machine Atlas – Digitizing Historical Maps

In collaboration with the Time Machine Unit at EPFL in Lausanne, we are excited to announce the upcoming Time Machine Organisation Academy workshop series, focusing on the digitization and vectorization of historical cartography.

Dates:

  • 11October 2024
  • 18 October 2024
  • 8 November 2024

Time: 10:00–12:00 AM CET
Location: Online via Zoom

This workshop series is designed for researchers, historians, and Local Time Machine (LTM) projects working on repopulating historical maps with population and other historical data from various sources. Participants will get an early look at the 4D Time Machine Atlas, a spatio-temporal aggregator that collects and organizes data from individual projects. The workshops will highlight advanced techniques for map digitization and vectorization, and foster collaboration within the digital cartography community.


Program Overview

Session 1:

Friday, 11 October 2024 – 10:00-12:00 AM CET
An introductory session presenting the 4D Time Machine Atlas prototype. This session will also highlight contributions from mature LTM projects that have produced and shared historical data. Participants will explore how their projects can benefit from using the Atlas.

Presentations
  • Frédéric Kaplan (EPFL): Future Development and Actions for Atlas Browser (30 min)
  • Isabella di Lenardo (EPFL): Information Indexing for Time Machine Atlas (15/20 min)
  • Manuel Ehrenfeld (EPFL): Designing a scalar interface: Venice use case (15 min)
  • Nicolas Mermoud-Ghraichy (EPFL): Data sharing infrastructure : server and IIIF model (10 min)
  • Rémi Petitpierre (EPFL): Vectorizing Cartographic Information: Quick Overview (15 min)

Session 2:

Friday, 18 October 2024 – 10:00-12:00 AM CET
A hands-on, theoretical-practical workshop on vectorizing historical maps. Participants will be introduced to state-of-the-art techniques and are encouraged to submit their own cartography in advance to optimize the process.

Session 3:

Friday, 8 November 2024 – 10:00-12:00 AM CET
In this concluding session, the cartographical data processed from the previous workshops will be reviewed and discussed. Participants will gain insights into the results and have the opportunity to engage in collaborative discussions on further advancements.

Final Presentation

The results of the TMO Academy workshops will be presented as a pre-release of the 4D Time Machine Atlas during the TMO Synergy Summit on 19 November 2024, at EPFL, Lausanne.


Register and have your data processed!

Register for session 2 and 3 via the link below and receive detailed information on where you can upload your data. The link to join the call will be shared with all registered participants a few days in advance of the sessions.