Wednesday, October 14, 2015

New features on Digimap for Schools endorsed by...er... me

A couple of new additions to the growing list of features for subscribers to Digimap for Schools.

From the EDINA blog...
 
Today the Digimap for Schools team release two new wonderful features – 1950s OS historic mapping and a text box tool.
 
The 1950s mapping fill in the mid point time period between the 1890s and current OS mapping.  The 1950s mapping are perfect for comparing changes over time and exploring the landscape, urban areas, road network and other features of post-war Britain.
We’ve made a small tweak to the interface to enable the selection of any two time periods, using the buttons and the slider (shown below) you can choose whether to view 1890s, 1950s or mapping from today, and any combination of two maps.
New map selection and slider
When a decade button is blue, click it to toggle it off and switch on the other map.  You can watch a demo video on the Digimap for Schools YouTube Channel
The 1950s mapping is lovely to look at and a wonderful addition to the mapping available in Digimap for Schools.  The maps have been provided by the National Library of Scotland.
The other great feature we’ve added, is the ability to add a text box to your map.  Until now, users have only been able to add short text labels which is a bit restrictive when you want to write a longer piece of information to annotate the map.
The Text Box tool can be found in the Annotations Toolbar in a sub-menu of the Label tool.
Text box tool
Click to activate the tool and click on your map to add the Text Box.  Then simply click in the box to start typing.  Resize the box to display as much text as you like!
 
There's also a quote from a user of the service...

"This new map layer offers scope for further historical comparisons of local areas, and the impact of more recent changes than the previous 1890s addition.
I traced the railway network that used to pass through my village before Beeching's cuts, and looked for clues of the many farms that now lie beneath the urban sprawl of Milton Keynes. I traced the transformation of the Isle of Dogs, and the steady infill of housing in small villages.
 
The new maps are the latest in the continued improvements that are being made to this essential tool for the Geography department"

Alan Parkinson, Head of Geography at King’s Ely (Junior) School

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