African Maps, Pixel by Pixel

As part of AT and the Northwestern University Library’s digitization efforts, NUAMPS partnered with the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, the NU Library, Digital Media Services, and Cushing Color, a Chicago-based imaging services firm, to create a digital counterpart to the Herskovits LibraryÕs extensive collection of African Maps.

Established in 1954, the Herskovits Library is the largest separate Africana collection in existence. The map-digitization undertaking produced digital copies of 113 antique maps of Africa dating from the mid 16th Century to the early 20th Century. These maps are now showcased on a new site.

NUAMPS responsibilities included consultation on acquisition, image quality checks, image post-production, and a number of forms of dissemination such as the development of an African Maps screensaver deployed in the InfoCommons and the future creation of a 2East Gallery exhibition of map details.

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