Putting the "Where" in the Archives: Internet Mapping and Archival Records

Abstract

As curators of recorded and artifactual history, archives provide communities with the raw materials to support collective memory and create an effective "sense of place." Part of this requires exposing the underlying geographical locations whose history is documented by archival records. But traditional archival principles of arrangement and description primarily emphasize provenance, respect des fonds, and temporal organization rather than the spatial aspects of records. Internet based GIS tools such as Google Maps and Google Earth offer new opportunities for archives to present records in and new and exciting ways, and can help reconnect archives to the communities they serve.