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New York Public Library Releases Over 20,000 Hi-Res Maps
Daniel_Stuckey (2647775) writes "Finally, you don't have to raise your voice over a group of whisperers in the New York Public Library to get a better view of its map collection. Actually, you don't even need to visit the place at all. Over 20,000 maps and cartographic works from the NYPL's Lionel Pincus & Princess Firyal Map Division have been uploaded and made downloadable for the public.
'We believe these maps have no known U.S. copyright restrictions,' explains a blog post announcing the wholesale release of the library's map collection. 'It means you can have the maps, all of them if you want, for free, in high resolution. We've scanned them to enable their use in the broadest possible ways by the largest number of people.' The NYPL is distributing the maps under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, which means you can do whatever you want with the maps."
'We believe these maps have no known U.S. copyright restrictions,' explains a blog post announcing the wholesale release of the library's map collection. 'It means you can have the maps, all of them if you want, for free, in high resolution. We've scanned them to enable their use in the broadest possible ways by the largest number of people.' The NYPL is distributing the maps under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, which means you can do whatever you want with the maps."
I've already used some of them to locate Pokemon in my new job as a Pokemon collector.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I'm going offline for 24 hours to let the barrage of poor jokes wash over. This is April Fools, isn't it?
... 20,000 maps under the sea.
'We believe these maps have no known U.S. copyright restrictions,'
And here is the thing that will be our ruin. Knowledge is derivative and to lock it up with such restrictions is to dam the river of knowledge. Such incredible foolishness.
Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
Don't these commies see that information is only valuable if you lock it away and charge people to use it? How can something be precious if everybody can get to it?
The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin is another good source for map scans; most are in the public domain. According to their FAQ, out of the ~250,000 maps they have, 54,751 are scanned and online.
This represents a lot of work and historical information, and the decision to make high quality scans freely avaiable makes them a resource for the ages.
Bravo!
I feel your pain.
They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
Anyone see any high-resolution old maps that are suitable for wall art?
At a print size of several feet?
Torrent of the whole thing?
www.oldmapsonline.org/
Is an online graphical index of various 'free' map collections - uses a google maps frontend. Anyone with any Scottish interest should check the awesome National Library of Scotland collection http://maps.nls.uk/ - there are many others providing historic map imagary online, mostly but not all public and state archives and libraries. David Rumsey has published a collection with worldwide scope http://www.davidrumsey.com
It's easy to forget that there much of the world is not made up of 'money grubbing scum' - however they are generally the ones who pay for the adverts..
PUBLIC LIBRARIES are an institution that benefits society overall by enhancing its citizens. People sharing knowledge, ideas, or information is a responsibility of the human race . This will always serve humanity beyond all of the royalties of copyright law. Nobody can really claim exclusive ownership of ideas that are shared and built upon the souls that precede us. Frankly, lobbyists in Washington have accomplished less for most Americans than the New York Public Library has accomplished in this one principled act of public policy Carnegie and Rockefeller and other barons of industry may have started these institutions because they understood that a rich culture is as valuable a resource to society as all the oil and steel.
I like them Big Apples.
Scans of maps are quite blatantly a derivative work I don't see how NYPL feels they have a right to assign any license to them, if the copyrights have expired then they're already public domain.
Big whoopdy doo!?? SO what if low-res scans are available when it costs at least $50 for anything you can actually read the legend/key on!
mesothelioma lawsuit
Hi-res versions of the maps are fifty dollars each. No kidding. I thought we could trust our libraries at least not to gouge too much...
That's "hic sunt dracones" -- while you won't find that included in the Map Warper, it is in the NYPL Digital Collections. Here's the view that actually says hic sunt dracones (just right of center).