Maps of Africa

A new 2East Digital Projects Gallery exhibit showcases the Melville J. Herskovits Maps of Africa digitization project in which NUAMPS played a key role. The map digitization project resulted in digital copies of 113 antique maps of Africa dating from the mid 16th Century to the early 20th Century. The 2East Gallery joint undertaking produced 38 high quality prints produced from the digital assets, returning the digital images to their analog (paper) form—with extraordinarily little loss of detail, texture, and original color.

The new 2East Digital Projects Gallery installation coincides with the Chicago Festival of Maps which also highlights both the original and digital collections of the Herskovits Maps of Africa. The Northwestern University Library is one of 30 participating institutions in this festival which runs from November 2007 into 2008.

NUAMPS partnered with the NU Library to update the 2East Digital Projects Gallery, the space shared by Academic Technologies, Collection Management, and Digital Media Services. NUAMPS designer Jon Fernandez worked closely with representatives from Northwestern’s Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, Government and Geographic Information and Data Services, Digital Media Services, Bibliographic Services, and Digital Library Systems Development to highlight NU digitization efforts.