[Talk-GB] NLS crowdsource projects and more OOC maps

[Rob Nickerson]

Hi all,

I joined the NLS crowdsource project to trace Scottish footpaths from old
out of copyright maps. I just wanted to share a little information about
the project.

They have a custom interface for the crowdsourcing. I suspect it builds on
their earlier crowdsource projects which have focussed so far on people
helping to digitise the text written on the OS maps. This time it adds
extra functionality; namely the ability to trace the lines of the
footpaths. 400 people signed up for the launch. And like earlier NLS
crowdsource projects, this one was super popular. In just less than 4 days,
they had passed over 10,000 traced paths! You can read more, and watch the
online webinar video from the project kick-off at
https://maps.nls.uk/transcriptions/paths/maps/help/

Hopefully, like their previous projects, the final data becomes available
under open licences so we can compare it to OSM to identify where we might
have missing paths. I suspect many will need surveying or checking against
another source as some might not exist on the ground any more.

P.S. This footpath project follows on from an earlier crowdsource to
digitise the words on Roy maps. 33,000 names on the Roy maps got at least
two transcriptions within 4 weeks.

Thank you,
*Rob*


On Sat, 15 Jan 2022 at 21:00, Rob Nickerson <rob.j.nickerson at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm a big fan of the work of the maps team at NLS - in fact I am still
> geeking out over the things they showed us in a tour during a State of the
> Map Scotland many years ago! So it should be no surprise that I'm following
> their website. Two interesting things from the last month:
>
> Crowdsource project:
> After the success of the GB1900 project, capturing place names and written
> content from the Ordnance Survey’s 6-inch to the mile maps from 1888-1913,
> NLS are planning three new collaborative transcription projects in 2022 for
> people to participate in data gathering. Two for names, but the third is
> tracing footpaths. Exciting stuff with the project also supporting a
> machine learning programme.
> https://maps_transcription_nls.mailchimpsites.com/
>
> 1971 out of copyright maps:
> NLS have put online 2,332 detailed maps at scales of 1:1,250 to 1:25,000
> which were published in 1971, and have therefore just come out-of-copyright.
> https://maps.nls.uk/additions.html#125
>
> Enjoy and happy mapping :-)
>
> Thanks,
> *Rob*
>
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