Sanborn Maps, and Training Videos (Part 1)

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In: mapping, sanborn, tutorials

Miami Dade Sanborn Map, 1921-4
The UF Digital Collections (UFDC) have grown so dramatically that we critically need more resources to both promote and explain the many materials and their use. As of November 1, UFDC includes over 2.79 million pages. This means we’ve added 1.79 million pages in 13 months. Our existing training materials, tutorials, and help pages haven’t been able to keep up with the variety and quantity of materials, nor with documenting and explaining the other technical improvements we’ve implemented.
We’re working on making online tutorials that will explain the basics of using UFDC and that will highlight a few of the largest collections. While we’re actively working on these, we have far too many materials to cover in the near future so I’m also on the lookout for any existing training or contextual materials from other digital collections that could support UFDC. I found a great online tutorial on the Sanborn Maps from the Colorado Library Consortium.
UFDC includes the Sanborn Fire Insurances Maps of Florida Digital Collection and, while the Colorado Library Consortium’s tutorial is clearly focused on Colorado’s maps, the background it provides on what the Sanborn maps are and why people would use them applies equally well for any Sanborn Map Digital Collection.While this first screencast from the Colorado Library Consortium is wonderful for the history of the Sanborn Maps, we still  need to develop our own tutorial for how to use our Sanborn Map Digital Collection. While we have a great deal of work ahead of us developing this and other tutorials, it’s still wonderful to be able to find wonderful resources already available.
Check out UFDC’s Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Florida for Florida’s Sanborn Maps and the Accidental Map Librarian Workshops, a wiki with many resources that explain the fascinating history of the Sanborn maps for all of the many Sanborn Map Digital Collections. Hopefully as we develop resources for UFDC, we’ll also be able to share resources as wonderful as those from the Accidental Map Librarian Workshops that will benefit digital collections!