Dimito

Digitization of rural mircotoponyms

Douwe Zeldenrust

Geographical Information System (GIS)

Dimito

• Pilot• 1 year 1 fte• 5 months 1 fte

Index cards

Index cards

• 200.000

• OCR not possible

• Incomplete

• Vague

• No coordinates

• Collected between 1948 and 1980

• Interviews

• Books and archieves

Field name maps

Field name maps

• 1749 • Highly diverse• Various scales• Mostly without a date• Not all toponyms are

located on field name maps

• Not all toponyms on the field name maps are on the index cards

• Accuracy is an illusion

Database field name maps

Literature

R. Rentenaar (2002): “The more special categories in the sources relevant to toponymy include those created by the onmasticians themselves, such as records, questionnaires and field name maps. In theory, these are the most reliable sources that a researcher could wish for. After all, the information has been recorded straight from the mouths of the users with the sole aim of obtaining the purest possible toponymical data. All the same, it can do no harm to exercise caution. Memories can change over the years (...).”

Dimito

Digitization of a unique source

Digitization

• Database MapInfo– Familiar– Exchange information with other GIS– 27 fields (three groups)

• Field name maps– TIFF and/or JPEG– 300 dpi

Database

• Index cards

• Field name maps

• Administration

Database• Index cards– Number– Name– Location– State– Use– Source– Text rear index card– Placename– X-coordinate – Y-coordinate – URL Image front index card– URL Image rear index card

• Field name maps• Administration

Database• Index cards• Field name maps

– Identification number– Kloeke number– Case number– Specification– Toponym– Main index card– Titel– Field name map– Placename– Province– URL Image field name map

• Administration

Database• Index cards• Field name maps• Administratief

– Data processor

– Date

– Source type

– Remarks

Field name maps

• Scan • Georeferencing

– MapInfo

– X - en Y coordinate toponyms

– URL

Georeferencing

Index card

Field name map

Georeferencing

Georeferencing

Georeferencing

Georeferencing

Georeferencing

Database

Historical soil use of the Netherlands in 1900

Knowledge Infrastructure Cultural History (KICH)

Conclusion

• Digitization is possible

• Research is possible

• There is a lot of interest

• Pilot => Project

Q & A