theatlantic:

Good Deed of the Day: Help Geo-Reference the British Library’s Map Collection

The British Library needs your help.

It is in the process of turning its gargantuan collection of maps into a digital resource tied to Google Earth. This allows people to see ancient and modern maps at the same time, with a slider to fade between the centuries. It’s easy to compare a city to its younger self, or observe the geographic impact of dams, bulkheads, and embankments. You can spot the mistakes — or marvel at the accuracy — of mapmakers working in the pre-electric age.

But for this to happen, the Library needs people to set up control points linking old maps to satellite data. It’s simple: you find recognizable locations and join them. Then, the software uses your input to mesh the two maps. (You can learn about georeferencing and be assigned a random map here.)

Read more. [Images: The British Library]

I did a map of the Netherlands.

azmatzahra: After a 47-day lull, the U.S. carried out four air strikes in Yemen in late December, and another today. With the sharp escalation in strikes over the last year and a half, America’s campaign against Al Qaeda in Yemen isn’t always very easy to follow. To help, we’ve actively been mapping the known U.S. drone, missile and other air strikes carried out there since 2002 with red dots, detailing not only the expansion of the program by year, but how strikes are playing out on the ground. Take for example this Sept. 2, 2012 strike that tribal leaders and Yemeni officials say killed 11 civilians, and that American officials have acknowledged was a U.S. strike. Or this Nov. 7, 2012 strike that killed a man whom many in Yemen say could have been captured alive.  I just updated the map today, which also charts in blue the 19 major terror plots against Western targets believed to be directed by Al Qaeda in Yemen since 2000. You can explore by year, or zoom into the heavily clustered areas to see multiple events. Do explore.
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azmatzahra:

After a 47-day lull, the U.S. carried out four air strikes in Yemen in late December, and another today.

With the sharp escalation in strikes over the last year and a half, America’s campaign against Al Qaeda in Yemen isn’t always very easy to follow. To help, we’ve actively been mapping the known U.S. drone, missile and other air strikes carried out there since 2002 with red dots, detailing not only the expansion of the program by year, but how strikes are playing out on the ground.

Take for example this Sept. 2, 2012 strike that tribal leaders and Yemeni officials say killed 11 civilians, and that American officials have acknowledged was a U.S. strike. Or this Nov. 7, 2012 strike that killed a man whom many in Yemen say could have been captured alive. 

I just updated the map today, which also charts in blue the 19 major terror plots against Western targets believed to be directed by Al Qaeda in Yemen since 2000. You can explore by year, or zoom into the heavily clustered areas to see multiple events. Do explore.