On Wednesday, August 9th 2023 there will be two workshops offered as part of our Pre-Conference day. Attendance to these workshops is optional, but we ask that those who do plan to attend indicate their intention when registering for the conference. These workshops will not be offered as part of the virtual conference programming and are only being held at the in-person venue.
OpenIndexMaps
Workshop Instructors: Stephen Appel, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Tom Brittnacher, University of California Santa Barbara.
Workshop Location: UBC Vancouver Campus – Koerner Library, Digital Scholarship Lab, Room 497. Bring your own laptop with QGIS installed, or use one of 10 computers in the lab (first-come, first serve).
OpenIndexMaps is a collaborative project from the GeoBlacklight Community to create a GeoJSON-based file specification for standardizing spatial index map creation. Building on the work of Map Librarians who have been using digital tools to index physical collections for decades, the OpenIndexMaps project hopes to offer a flexible, standardized, and community developed format for storing and sharing geographic index information. Examples of collections that could benefit from this project include large paper map series, air photo series, or any geospatial format where footprints or index polygons could aid in discovery and access. In our workshop, we hope to build an understanding of digital index mapping—laying a foundation for map librarians to utilize these tools for creating index maps, sharing them with others with GitHub, and using them in data portals including GeoBlacklight or web mapping applications. We will be breaking down the specification to show its flexibility for a variety of formats and applications. The workshop will use the free and open source QGIS. Finally, we hope to encourage conversations and perhaps contributions from attendees to help the project move forward and remain useful for the WAML community and beyond.
(Map) Weeding for the Uncertain Gardener : advice for massive map weeding projects
Workshop Instructors: Christopher J.J. Thiry, Colorado School of Mines; Janet Reyes, University of California, Riverside; Martin Chandler, Cape Breton University.
Workshop Location: UBC Vancouver Campus – Koerner Library, Presentation Room 548. Please bring your own laptop.
Massive map weeding projects have happened in many libraries. What can we, as stewards of physical map collections, do to ensure the weeding is done in a mindful way? If a collection is to be downsized significantly, where should we begin, what kind of processes can we follow, who should we talk with, and what should we be aware of so that the entire endeavor is done with critical input from those most affected? This workshop will explore these topics, share policies, and give useful advice on massive map weeding projects. We will distribute forms and worksheets. This workshop will require participants to prepare some materials before the conference.