More than the usual searches: A GIS based Digital Library of the Spanish ancient cartography

Abstract

Inside the frame established by the Council of the European Union about Digital Libraries, we are creating a complete and multilingual database on Spanish ancient cartography. It gathers the documents located in the different archives, that yet today remain disperse and even unknown. We are also implementing an open Geographic Information System, that surpasses the usual operability of the traditional multiformat databases. Allowing to establish more complex relationships among all this information, the GIS enlarges the different queries and searches, and spreads online a more personalised information. This new methodology has been created with the aim of being implemented all around the European Union. Based upon the study of old cartographic documents, the system will allow searches and analysis of the historical evolution of the territories and landscapes.