DECIMA: The Digitally Encoded Census Information and Mapping Archive, and the Project for a Geo-Spatial and Sensory Digital Map of Renaissance Florence (original) (raw)
Related papers
Imago Tusciae : A digital archive of historical maps of Tuscany
Imago Tusciae: A digital archive of historical maps of Tuscany (Italy)), is an online digital archive of the historic cartography of Tuscany. At present the archive comprises around 2,000 documents belonging to different fonds of the Siena State Archives, soon to be joined by the maps from the Grosseto State Archives. The objective is that of progressively gathering within the archive the cartographic documentation from the various registries in Tuscany (archives and both public and private libraries) as well as that concerning Tuscany but conserved elsewhere (in Italy and abroad). In addition to operating as a means for consulting the data and seeking information, the application also makes it possible to view the maps and other related documents in high resolution and offers a range of tools for study and reflection: informative factsheets on the documents, lists of authors with respective biographical details, bibliographic references, lists of archive fonds and atlases of maps complete with descriptions and an interactive chronology localised on the map of modern-day Tuscany. By exploiting the technical features of Web 2.0 (through tabbed browsing) and using a linear and intuitive interface architecture, the application seeks to offer a user experience as similar as possible to that of a scholar at a desk in an archive, with documents of diverse provenance and suggestions generated by the cross-referenced examination of the sources.
Imago Tusciae: A digital archive of historical maps of Tuscany (Italy)
2012
The Imago Tusciae project, developed at the Geography Workshop of the Department of History at the University of Siena (working group: Cinzia Bartoli, Luca Deravignone, Barbara Gelli, Claudio Greppi, Giuseppe Lauricella, Fortunato Lepore, Giancarlo Macchi Janica and Giulio Tarchi), is an online digital archive of the historic cartography of Tuscany. At present the archive comprises around 2,000 documents belonging to different fonds of the Siena State Archives, soon to be joined by the maps from the Grosseto State Archives. The objective is that of progressively gathering within the archive the cartographic documentation from the various registries in Tuscany (archives and both public and private libraries) as well as that concerning Tuscany but conserved elsewhere (in Italy and abroad). In addition to operating as a means for consulting the data and seeking information, the application also makes it possible to view the maps and other related documents in high resolution and offers...
This article explores the process by which the Digitally Encoded Census Information and Mapping Archive (DECIMA) endeavoured to create a complete interactive 3D urban map of sixteenth-century Florence. Originally, the project consisted of a projection of tax census data from 1551, 1561 and 1632 onto an axonometric visual map from our period of inquiry drawn by Stefano Buonsig-nori in 1584 georeferenced onto a contemporary map of the city. Transforming this into a three-dimensional projection was a means to display census information with greater precision. However , this process was fraught with project accessibility and methodological considerations. DEC-IMA is first and foremost a web-based open access platform for research on the early modern city. Scaling the web application up to three-dimensions risked jeopardizing user accessibility. Finding sources to create a historical city proved difficult since much is known about major historical structures while the rest of the city's minor architectural heritage remains elusive. To resolve these issues, DECIMA researchers opted for a recreation of the city designed to match the visuals of Buonsignori's map, preserving the framework already utilized in the original project while making the finished product an optional feature for users to ensure accessibility was preserved. Utilizing urban digital design software City Engine, the existing geographic information system was scaled up into a 3D environment enhancing the precision of the data projection and offering opportunities for further technological enhancements to the web application for more in-depth research on Florence's historic urban community.
From historical maps to digital technologies: the visualisation of the Venetian Ghetto’s history
2020
During the last decades, the development of new digital technologies improved research methodologies as well as furthering historical iconography and cartographic representation studies. Moreover, the multidisciplinary approach based on different disciplines of knowledge (history, cartography, computer graphics and sciences) enabled the development of new digital tools for the preservation of and access to the cultural heritage. During the last year, the Cartography and GIS Lab of the Iuav University of Venice has been involved in the development of an exhibition entitled Venice, the Jews and Europe (1516-2016), designed by the VISU research’s group with the collaboration of the MuVe Foundation and the Jewish Community of Venice, to be hosted at the Ducal Palace of Venice. The project offered the opportunity to study the history of the Venetian Jewish Community in a new perspective: cartography was used as a fundamental tool for analysing the urban transformation of the Venetian Ghe...
2023
One of the most urgent challenges for European academic and cultural institutions is to promote an intelligent use of materials and resources available on the web, by implementing best practices of web archiving, and building scientifically valid databases which can have a positive social impact. This paper will present the theoretical and methodological framework of Eredità Culturali, an ongoing project that aims at answering this challenge by focusing on the Florentine cultural heritage. The first stage of Eredità Culturali consisted in surveying similar initiatives within the European research landscape and examining national and international cataloguing models and standards to build a data entry prototype that interacts with other systems. Hence, a flexible and open-access web platform has been designed to validate, preserve and consult cultural information from disparate data sets into a single archive. A geo-referenced information system has also been developed, in which four databases designed by the Department's research groups of Geography, Archaeology, Performing Arts and Book History will converge and make sound Umanistica Digitale
Digital DISCI. The Online Portal of the Italian Cartographers
2018
The co-financed (COFIN) national project Studies and Research for a Historical Dictionary of the Italian Cartographers coordinated by Ilaria Luzzana Caraci of the University of Roma Tre, was founded in 2003 and structured in fourteen local research units across Italy. An ambitious work program more than hundred participants to produce extensive research on all Italian characters (or on people who have been working for a long time in the country) who had been involved in the production of geographical maps. This would have achieved an idea born a few years earlier to intercept the research needs felt by many, and aimed to fill a knowledge gap mainly for the “minor” characters who had received less attention from scientists, but seemed to be fundamental to rebuild a fuller and more definite picture of the history of the Italian cartography, but not only. The great amount of material has long been waiting to find a publisher. Today we want to show the portal designed by lecturers of the University of Roma Tre, in collaboration with the Italian Center for Historical-Geographical Studies (CISGE), to make available the results of the DISCI project (www.cisge.it/disci). A digital open source collection, open to the consultation of bio-bibliographic records previously produced and also to the contribution of those who want to provide new information on one of the almost 1.000 already fully censed characters. Alternatively, users can create a new record for one of the almost 6.000 Italian cartographers known only by name and/or with limited data.
Maps in Renaissance Libraries and Collections
2011
637 The aim of this chapter is to highlight some apparently peripheral yet widespread scholarly uses of maps during the Renaissance—uses associated with map collecting, display, and study. The chapter examines the role of maps as visual memory aids in the light of the available evidence; it then traces the presence and arrangement of maps in Renaissance libraries and collections; and finally, it examines the symbolic functions and learned uses of maps within early modern humanistic culture.