THL Toolbox > Places & Geography > Map Cataloging > THL Map Catalog User Manual
THL Map Catalog User Manual
Contributor(s): Steven Weinberger, Quentin Devers, David Germano.
THL uses a powerful system called "Geonetworks" developed by the United Nations and as deployed by the University of Virginia Library. It is specifically created to catalog spatial resources in exceptionally detailed fashion, and we are using it as essentially a map database for maps we have created, digitized, or know about (but don't have digital versions we can provide).
The record for each map includes the following information:
- Title: the name on the map itself. When the map does not have a name, THL map catalogers assign one.
- Abstract: a description of the map, such as whether the original map was paper or digital; characteristics of the map, such as whether it is rolled or folded (for paper maps); the size of the map; whether it includes one or more inset maps; publication date; and so forth.
- Keywords: these can include the geographical area depicted on the map, features on the map such as international borders, rivers, cities, and so forth.
- Type: the type of map, such as scanned paper map, custom-made digital map, or interactive map.
- THL ID: this is the id of the map in the THL map database.
Search
- View all maps: to view a list of all the maps in the catalog, leave the search box empty and click the Search button.
- Search by title: enter one or more words or phrases to search for in the title of the map.
- Search by abstract: enter one or more words or phrases to search for in the abstract of the map.
- Search in all fields: enter text to search for in All Fields.
- Select keyword(s): pull down the Keyword menu and select one or more keywords to include in your search.
- Type: pull down the Type menu and select one or more types of map to search for.
- THL ID: if you know the THL ID for the map, you can enter that in the THL ID field.
Constrain Search by Time Period
You can search for a map published in a particular time period.
- Use the slider at the upper right under Map Publication Dates to limit the search by date of publication.
Constrain Search by Geographic Region
You can search for maps of areas within a specific geographic region.
- Select region: on the map, click and drag to create a polygon around the geographic region you want maps for.
- Select latitude and longitude coordinates: you can set the coordinates for the boundaries of the area you want to search by entering the coordinates in the four boxes around the map.
- Select layers: click the plus sign (+) at the top right of the map to select layer(s) for the search.
Viewing Individual Map Records
A search in the map collections catalog results in a list of one or more maps, with the map title, abstract, and keywords for each result. To view the catalog record for a map, click its title.
Metadata
The record displays the full information for the map, including map scale, reference system information, publisher, whether the map is part of a series of maps, and so forth.
View the Map
In the upper right, there is a small image of the map. Click this to view a larger image of the map in a popup window. (Clicking the "View Simple Popup" link beneath the image will also display the map in a popup window.) Then click this larger image to view the largest version of the image.
To view the map overlaid on an interactive map, click the "View in Interactive Map" link. You can then use the interactive map controls to add layers to the map.
At the bottom of the screen the geographic region area that the map covers is displayed in red on a larger map.
Download the Map
For most maps, you can download a zip file that contains a JPG file of the map and a PDF file of the metadata. The name of the download link indicates the resolution of the map, such as 600 dpi (600 dots per inch). If the map is part of a series, in the "Download" section there will also be a link to download a zip file of all the maps in the series.
