putting folklore in its place
DESCRIPTION
Presented by Neil Mayo at Working Digitally with Historical Maps Workshop, Edinburgh, 13 December 2012TRANSCRIPT
N E I L M A Y O , E D I N A
K I R S T Y M S T E W A R T , C A R M I C H A E L W A T S O N P R O J E C T
PUTTING FOLKLORE IN ITS PLACE
ADVANTAGES
Unique ids enable us to link up catalogue entries and
transcriptions.
We can also uniquely identify entities such as people,
places, genres, and then get hold of any further
related information.
XML MADS RECORD
<mads>
<authority>
<hierarchicalGeographic authority="4710">
<country>Scotland
<county>Inverness-shire
<island>Isle of Harris
<area>Bogha na Cille</area>
</island>
</county>
</country>
</hierarchicalGeographic>
</authority>
<extension><coordinates>57.826174;-7.057072</coordinates></extension>
<variant type="translation" xml:lang="gla">
<geographic>Bogha an Teampuill; Bogha na h-Eaglaise</geographic>
</variant>
<variant type="other">
<geographic>Temple Bo</geographic>
</variant>
<note type="general">
This location is an estimate based on the description given in GB 237 Coll-97/CW111/23 folio 6r; Is shown on Admiralty Chart for Scotland: Sound of Harris to Aird Bhreidhnis, including Lochs Tarbert & Resort:
http://maps.nls.uk/coasts/view-
admiralty/?id=1326&zoom=5&lat=3780&lon=5338.5&layers=B.
</note>
</mads>
CARMICHAEL WATSON DATA
This XML is amenable to processing by a computer,.
• All data listed in the catalogue entryhttp://www.carmichaelwatson.lib.ed.ac.uk/cwatson/en/catalogueentry/3264
• Also a link to a full text transcription with zoomable scanhttp://www.carmichaelwatson.lib.ed.ac.uk/cwatson/en/fulltexttranscription/3264
What else can we do with the data?
CARMICHAEL WATSON GEO DATA
Simple and reliable geo data opens up access to a
multitude of services. We implemented links to:
• Geograph geographically representative photos
• for location and local images
• Flickr photo sharing
• for localised photos
• Geonames geographical database
• for location on satellite maps, and nearby places
BOGHA NA CILLE, ISLE OF HARRIS
http://www.carmichaelwatson.lib.ed.ac.uk/cwatson/en/catalogueentry/3264
GEOGRAPH APPROACH
1. Convert latitude/longitude to a grid reference
using jcoord http://www.jstott.me.uk/jcoord/
2. Perform various checks before using the data
• are the lat/long available?
• do they describe a position roughly in the UK?
http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NF998930
GEOGRAPH
http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NF998930
FLICKR APPROACH
• Uses flickr wrappr from Free University of Berlin
http://wifo5-03.informatik.uni-mannheim.de/flickrwrappr/
• Produces photos from Flickr marked up with RDF
• Can find photos depicting a 'concept', by referencing
dbpedia
• Also supports geographic queries using lat/long and
radiushttp://wifo5-03.informatik.uni-mannheim.de/flickrwrappr/page/photosDepictingLocation/57.826/-7.057/2000
FLICKR WRAPPR
http://www4.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/flickrwrappr/location/57.826175689697266/-7.057072162628174/2000
GEONAMES APPROACH
Get a geonames id for the place:
1. Query the findNearby API:
http://api.geonames.org/findNearby
2. Take the first result and show the page:
http://www.geonames.org/2650821
GEONAMES
http://www.geonames.org/2650821
GEONAMES NEARBY APPROACH
We can use geonames to show a place in the context
of nearby places:
1. Construct a URL with the latitude and longitude: http://www.geonames.org/maps/google_57.826_-7.057.html
2. This does a findNearby search and displays a map
with all places 'nearby' the specified location.
GEONAMES NEARBY
http://www.geonames.org/maps/google_57.826_-7.057.html
LINKING TO SERVICES
We also do the following:
1. Check for the availability of each service before
linking to it
2. Cache results to avoid continually hitting the sites with
lots of requests
3. Provide pages with RDF linked data identifying various
entities including people, families, places, alternative
placenames, geo data, and so on.
LINKING DATA
• To make good data discoverable and reusable,
particularly through automated processing, make
sure it is marked up.
• Also expose it as linked data so it can be used to
query or link with other services!