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Allmaps Georeferencing Workshop at FranceArchives

Thursday, November 28, 2024

Manuel Claeys Bouuaert

Worskhop during the conference: Conférence "Des outils IIIF pour valoriser et explorer les collections en ligne"

Content

After a short overview presentation of Allmaps on November 27th, this workshop will explore the possibilities of the Allmaps platform in a hands-on way. We will learn to locate map collections and their IIIF Manifest URIs of various partner archives of FranceArchives, and open them in the Allmaps Editor. We'll look at the format of a Georeference Annotation and demonstrate its usages in the Allmaps Viewer and other tools. This workshop will give you everything you need to get started. We'll share interesting maps we discover, and log issues encountered to improve the IIIF setup at the partner local archives and help the development of Allmaps.

Step 1: Finding Maps in a Partner Archive

As FranceArchives lists on its website, as of November 2024 about 20 national, départementale and municipal french archives have online portals that support IIIF. And many of those collections also include maps!

Earlier tests by FranceArchives staff to use the Allmaps tools with maps from these archive portals have indicated that the software implementation at some used at about half of these archives produces Manifests which Allmaps can't currently process. This should be fixed in the coming year, but sadly it prevents us from using these archives today.

Find a Map

About 10 archives had no issues, and we'll be using these today. These archives are:

Archive Search portal Example map
Departmental archives of Ille-et-Vilaine Search Example
Municipal archives of Bazas Search Example
Municipal archives of Montbrison Search Example
Municipal archives of Aurillac Search Example
Municipal archives of Saint-Omer Search Example
Municipal archives of Carmaux Search Example
Municipal archives of Dieppe Search Example
Municipal archives of Abbeville Search Example
Digital heritage library of Alençon Search Example
Bibliothèque nationale de France Search Example

Now it's up to you: browse these archives and find a map you like!

Here are some tips:

  • Use search terms like 'map', 'carte', 'geo', 'photo aérienne', 'cadastre', 'plan', ...
  • See if the platform offers to search by categories, and if there is a category for or related to 'maps'.
  • You can also search through the FranceArchive search (IIIF Manifests indicated with the IIIF logo) or Biblissima+ search. These allow users to search items in all partner archives at once. However, you might also find maps from archives whose portals don't work with Allmaps. See the note on dealing with error further.

ℹ️ Sharing maps during the workshop

If you found interesting maps or map series and would like to share them with other participants (to ask for georeferencing help or show off your finds or georeferencing results) you can use this FramaPad. It's free to edit, just start typing. (You can ignore the notice about the pad expiring, and enter your name when it suggests you to, if you wish).

Find the Map's IIIF Manifest URL

Once we find a map, we need to find the URL of it's IIIF Manifest (or IIIF Image). This URL is how we will point Allmaps to the map in question.

To locate the IIIF Manifest URL, there are a couple of options. Use the one that works best for you.

  • Some archive platforms make it easy by providing the URL on the item webpage of the map, or in the interactive viewer. In general, look out for the IIIF logo or the words 'IIIF Manifest' , sometimes within the 'share' or 'information' menu.
    • Example from Ille-et-Vilaine: IIIF Manifest URL on the item webpage.
    • Example from BnF: IIIF Manifest URL in the interactive viewer under the iiif logo, then under i.
    • From the FranceArchives platform the items are visible by default in the (embedded) Mirador Viewer, which allows to find the IIIF Manifest URL as follows: click the ≡ button called Aficher le menu latéral and in the i panel scroll down to the bottom to find Liens: Manifeste IIIF.
  • For all archives from our list (except BnF and Ille-et-Vilaine) we can deduce the IIIF Manifest URL from the URL of the item webpage or interactive viewer of an archive item, by locating the item's 'id'.
    • Here are two examples:
      • For the map at this viewer URL https://archives-numeriques.ville-bazas.fr/viewer/9038/?offset=#page=1&viewer=picture&o=&n=0&q= we can find the id 9038 in the URL and construct the IIIF Manifest URL https://archives-numeriques.ville-bazas.fr/iiif/9038/manifest
      • For the map at this webpage URL https://images-archives.ille-et-vilaine.fr/idurl/1/103954 we can find the id 103954 in the URL and construct the IIIF Manifest URL https://images-archives.ille-et-vilaine.fr/iiif/103954/manifest
    • We can do this automatically using a bookmarklet (a bookmark with a small bit of code):
      • Drag the following link to your bookmarks bar: Open IIIF Manifest. It acts as a button: when clicked it will try to deduce the IIIF Manifest URL from the webpage you are currently at. Try to click it when you have a IIIF item webpage or viewer open: it should bring you to its corresponding IIIF Manifest URL! (You can find more information on this bookmarklet here)
  • To automatically detect IIIF resources on any platform website or viewer you visit, even outside of our list, you can use the very helpful 'detektIIIF' browser extension. When visiting a webpage or viewer containing a IIIF Manifest, this extension will automatically find the IIIF Manifest URL. It's available one the Chrome webstore and as a Firefox Add-on. If you want to use it, install the extension and pin it in your browser for easy access.

ℹ️ The difficulty of finding IIIF Manifests URLs

You might notice that finding a map on a platform, and finding its corresponding IIIF Manifest URL can be a tricky task, and might even be a hurdle for people new to IIIF. Indeed, improvement is still needed in platforms and viewers to make sure a (map) IIIF Manifest can always easily be found.

Step 2: Georeferencing a Map in the Allmaps Editor

Now that we have found a map in a partner archive, and identified the IIIF Manifest URL that points to it, we can open Allmaps Editor to georeference the map, creating a Georeference Annotation.

Open the Manifest in Allmaps Editor

  • Copy the URL of the IIIF Manifest
  • Open the Allmaps Editor
  • Paste the link in the field and click Load. At the top you now see four tabs (you can always go back and forth).
  • ❗ If you get an error message, double check if you copied the right link.

ℹ️ Dealing with error messages

For some maps of archives outside those proposed in the list above, you might see an error when entering the IIIF Manifest URL in the Allmaps Editor, e.g. failed to fetch.

Sometimes this is due to the fact that Allmaps Editor doesn't (yet) support all possible implementations of IIIF Manifests, ... as specified by the IIIF Presentation API. In other cases, it's only a question of CORS not being enabled (i.e. the server hosting the image has not allowed other servers, in this case Allmaps Editor, to load the image). If you would really like to use this map in Allmaps, you can try to find out if this is indeed the problem by circumventing it e.g. using an 'Allow CORS' plugin for your browser. Raise your hand if you want help trying this out.

Select the right Map

  • Select an image under the Collection tab (often there's only a single image to select).
  • 🔴 There could be one or two icons at the bottom right of a map, indicating that for map a mask and/or control points are already known by Allmaps.
  • ℹ️ Notice the menu on the bottom right of the window. The first of the three icons is an i. If you click it, you will see the metadata contained in the Manifest of the map we are georeferencing.

Draw the Mask

  • Click the Mask tab and draw a mask by zooming in and clicking the image.
  • The mask specifies where the map is on the image. It will later be used to crop the map in the Viewer
  • Draw a mask around the part of the image where the map is located.
  • ✍️ You can move points around or add new points to the mask by dragging points or lines. You can also remove a point by clicking it while holding shift.
  • ↩️ If you want to start again, click the middle button of the menu on the bottom right of the window, showing a list. This opens up a panel listing all masks; click the bin to remove the mask (there's no way to undo this currently). If you accidentally create a second mask, you can quickly change tabs (to Collection and back) to remove it again.

Georeference the Map

  • Now go to the Georeference tab. On the left you see the selected image, on the right a world map. Zoom to the relevant region on the world map. Click a point you recognise on both maps (which has remained the same over time), such as a church tower or a road crossing. Add the point on both sides (a number will indicate that they are paired). Add at least three of these points (they are called control points). Ideally, they are spread out over the map as possible.
  • 📋 Click the middle button of the menu on the bottom right of the screen to obtain an overview of your masks and their control points. You can remove points if needed (there's no undo function yet). You can also select another mask and add points for that selection.
  • 🙅 Removing points from the menu might confuse the numbering. Reload the page to reset the numbering. Note that the order of numbers changes after reloading the page.
  • ↗️ You can rotate the view by holding Option/Alt-Shift.
  • 🗺️ It will soon be possible to load a custom world map to help you place the control points. Advanced: If you want to try this out now, you can do this via a bookmarklet:
    • Drag the following link to you Bookmarks bar: Allmaps Editor: OpenStreetMap background
    • While in the Allmaps Editor, click this bookmark. You will see the background change to OpenStreetMap

Step 3: Inspecting the Georeference Annotation

  • Click the </> button on the bottom right of the screen to inspect the Georeference Annotation you just created finishing step 2. It is shown in the black pane. You can also open the annotation in a new browser tab using Open in new tab.
  • This piece of text is a Georeference Annotation. That means it conforms to the specifications of the Georeference Extension, an open format used to annotate ('describe') another (online) resource. In this case, we describe how that resource can be georeferenced. Since we are linking to the original resource, its metadata is also available.
  • This little document contains three important parts. Can you find them?
    1. A reference to the IIIF Resource it's annotating (under source).
    2. The mask which describes where the map is on that resource (under selector).
    3. The control points (under features).
  • Some IIIF Manifests or Images can contain multiple maps. We can make Annotation Pages, which are lists of Annotations each describing the georeferencing of a map. You can see this in action next to Show annotation for: you can choose between Manifest, Image, Map. The annotation in the black panel will adapt to contain the annotations of your choice.
    • Map refers to the current selected mask (and related control points)
    • Image refers to all the masks (and related control points) of the currently selected IIIF Image (or Canvas)
    • Manifest refers to all the masks (and related control points) of all the images in the current IIIF Manifest (see the overview in the Collection tab).
  • 💾 Notice the Copy and Download buttons. If you want to save this Annotation in your own annotation or archival system, you could use these.

💬 Storing Georeference Annotations

The Allmaps Editor currently stores a copy of every annotation that is created. If you or someone else opens the same IIIF Manifest URL in the Allmaps Editor at a later moment, the masks and control points you entered will show up. Anyone can thus alter and improve your annotation. It is therefore wise to save a copy of your data somewhere if you want to keep this specific version. In the future, it will be possible to pin or request specific versions of an annotation.

Step 4: Opening a Georeference Annotation in the Allmaps Viewer

The Georeference Annotation can be used in any tool that can interpret this type of data. Allmaps Viewer is one of them. It warps the maps and displays it in the right location over a basemap.

  • Copy the Georeference Annotation: Go back to the Editor and click Copy in the </> panel.
  • In a new tab, navigate to the Allmaps Viewer
  • Paste the Georeference Annotation in the second field and click View. The georeferenced map will now open in the Allmaps Viewer. You can go back and forth between the warped map and the original image by clicking the Map and Image buttons in the top right corner.
  • 🎨 The Viewer has some cool tricks:
    • Hold spacebar to quickly hide the map
    • Press B or use the right knob to remove the background color
    • Press M to display the outline of the mask(s)
    • Press T to change the transformation algorithm.
  • 🗺️ 🗾 If the IIIF Manifest contained multiple maps and if you copied the Georeference Annotation using Manifest or Image, all maps are rendered at once. Extra tricks when multiple maps are loaded:
    • Use [ and ] to browse the collection (the selected map will be on top)
    • Right click on a map to change the layer order

💡 Directly from Editor to Viewer

We suggested to copy/paste the annotation to demonstrate how Allmaps works on the basis of Georeference Annotations. It is important to be aware of these files that contain information, can be stored in an archival system and opened again.

An quicker way to view a map from the Editor is to navigate to the Results tab and open one of the links, such as View current image. In this case, the Georeference Annotation you created is loaded from Allmaps' database directly. This means that new edits in the Editor will become visible in the Viewer after refreshing the page. You can leave both tabs open to improve your work.

ℹ️ Advanced: looking up manifests

In case you found a IIIF Manifest containing a map and want to find out if a Georeference Annotation exists in the Allmaps database, we already saw it's possible to simply open the IIIF Manifest URL in the Editor and see if any mask or control points are loaded.

A second option is to directly enter the IIIF Manifest URL in the Viewer and see if a map is displayed.

A third way to check this is more programmatic and uses the Allmaps API:

Extra: Step 5: Tracing features on maps

Once you georeferenced a map, you can also use it in other tools like webmaps (using the Allmaps webmap plugins) or GIS-applications like QGIS. Here, we will use it in an online GIS application and trace features on the map.

We will use Placemark Play, a free and open source online GIS tool.

  • Open Placemark Play and navigate to the location of your map.
  • Add your map as a new background layer: click the layer icon in the top right (the icon under Help) and click the + button to add a new layer. Choose + Custom and XYZ. Give your layer a name, and for the template URL go back to the Editor and copy-paste the 'XYZ' link of the Allmaps Tile Server at the bottom of the Results tab. Find out more about the Allmaps Tile Server below.
  • It may take a couple of seconds for the map to load. If you still don't see anything, verify you are in the right location (Placemark doesn't automatically navigate to the area of the map you loaded).
  • In Placemark you can now add points, lines, polygons, rectangles and circles via the buttons on the top left. You can also edit and delete features by selecting them and pressing backspace or clicking the bin icon in the top.
  • When you click a feature, you can edit its shape by dragging the (mid-)points. You can also edit its metadata in the panel on the right. Each row in the table represents a label-value pair: labels left and values right. You can add a new pair by adding a new row.
  • Now it's up to you: trace interesting features like rivers or buildings, and describe them using their metadata.
  • Don't forget to export the data you created at the end! Use File > Export. Choose a format you are familiar with (or GeoJSON by default).

You could now use this data to compare these features with similar features from other databases (like current rivers or buildings from OpenStreetMap).

ℹ️ About the Allmaps Tile Server

In order to add the map as a layer in Placemark Play (and also in GIS-applications like QGIS or ESRI ArcMap), you need to use the Allmaps Tile Server. The Tile Server creates XYZ map tiles: a very broadly supported format in GIS applications to load maps. It acts as a 'proxy server' and created the requested XYZ tiles on the fly, using the Georeferencing Annotation. This way, you can load maps that don't directly support Georeference Annotations, by loading XYZ-tiles made from your Georeference Annotation!

Closing off

We hope it's clear to you now how the different Allmaps tools can be used to georeference, view and use IIIF maps. If you have any questions, would like to integrate these tools in your archive's software platform or would like to use these tools in research or valorisation, don't hesitate to reach out to Allmaps!

You can send us an email or reach us in the #allmaps channel of the IIIF Slack.