Geospatial Mapping of Library Preservation

A project to develop a tool for visualizing, analyzing, and prioritizing preservation needs across Harvard’s 73 libraries using geospatial mapping technology. By overlaying preservation data with campus maps, one could illustrate “hot spots”, such as: concentration of vulnerable AV media, libraries with greatest “born digital” content in need of preservation, and areas with inadequate environmental controls.

Brenda Bernier, Acting Director, Weissman Preservation Center

March 2012 Update

InSite, our data mapping application, has come a long way in the past four months and is almost complete. The tool was originally imagined as a way to visualize preservation data for Harvard’s libraries. However, as InSite has evolved, we see that it can accommodate all kinds of data, for the libraries, for Harvard, or for any geographic location.

Activities to date include:

  • Planning meetings with developer to identify project goals, scope, and timeline.
  • Brainstorming session with preservation staff.
  • Research of potential mapping tools and data import from Cognos and Hollis.
  • Development of application using Google Maps as the underlying mapping tool.
  • Layout, graphics, and writing of documentation and help functions.
  • Testing and de-bugging.
  • Weekly update meetings with developer.

General functionality of InSite:

  • Library names, geographic location (latitude/longitude) and data are entered into spreadsheet which can be uploaded and mapped.
  • Preservation data from assessments is converted to numerical value. (Yes/No/Maybe values are possible as well.)
  • Data from Hollis, such as numbers of books (or other format) per library, can be uploaded.
  • Data is visualized on the map by colored spots for each library.
  • Numerical data can be plotted as either a range of colors or range of sizes for the spots.
  • Data visualization can be combined. For example, the degree of emergency preparedness (as determined through assessments) can be mapped as a range of colors, say from green (good) to red (poor). For each library, this variable can be combined with the size of the collection (as indicated through Hollis) as the size of the spot.
  • Clicking on each spot will give pop-up with name of library, data variables, and other textual information that was added to the spreadsheet.
  • Variables can be changed and instantly visualized on the map.
  • New maps can be created by uploading new spreadsheets.

Download the proposal:

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