[accessibleimage] Re: Ancient maps soon online - audible maps for the visually impaired
- From: "Will Pearson" <will-pearson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 05:15:04 -0000
Hi.
They'll likely be using the BATS system to generate the audio maps. BATS
has been developed at UNC by Prof. Gary Bishop, and was originally done by
Prof. Bishop and a small team of undergrads who were taking his
accessibility course. There's quite an interesting story about how the
original concept came about, and you can find more about the BATS project
at:
http://www.cs.unc.edu/Research/assist/bats/index.shtml
Will
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lisa Yayla" <fnugg@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Access to Art Museums"
<artbeyondsightmuseums@xxxxxxxxxx>;
<art_beyond_sight_learning_tools@xxxxxxxxxx>; "Art Beyond Sight Educators
List" <art_beyond_sight_educators@xxxxxxxxxx>; "Art Beyond Sight Theory and
Research" <art_beyond_sight_theory_and_research@xxxxxxxxxx>;
<art_beyond_sight_advocacy@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 2:34 PM
Subject: [accessibleimage] Ancient maps soon online - audible maps for the
visually impaired
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-703770.html
Hi,
This sounds very interesting and will have audible maps for the visually
impaired.
Regards,
Lisa
*
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-703770.html
Ancient maps to soon go online*
February 19, 2006 5:43 pm
CHAPEL HILL -- While they may study places and people that are thousands
of years old, scholars at UNC are at the forefront of modernizing
antiquity.
Researchers long have had to dip into hefty and static atlases to study
the stomping grounds of Alexander the Great or the Roman emperors, but
they soon will be able to do so on a comprehensive, open-source database
on the Internet -- thanks to UNC's Ancient World Mapping Center.
The group started the project this month with the help of a $390,000 grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Mapping center leaders
hope the online project will serve as a template for other humanities
scholars to incorporate technology into their research.
"You think it's all so old, boring and crusty," Richard Talbert, principal
investigator of the project, said of the classics. "But it's not."
Talbert, a history and classics professor at UNC, spent 12 years editing
the last large atlas of classical lands. The Barrington Atlas of the Greek
and Roman World, which was published in 2000, was the first work of its
kind since the 1870s.
The book's 100 maps illustrate the classical world -- from the British
Isles to the Indian subcontinent and into North Africa -- from 1000 B.C.
to 640 A.D.
Praised by scholars, the volume does have limitations. The printed maps
don't allow for easy inclusion of new discoveries. And at about three feet
long and costing around $350, the book is not always accessible for
readers.
"The more I got into it, I realized that this was likely only a
beginning," Talbert said of his work on the Barrington Atlas.
Soon after that volume was published, the Ancient World Mapping Center was
born at UNC and, with it, the idea to digitalize the maps.
The center also works on online and printed maps for beginning students,
and audible maps for the visually impaired. The newest project is called
Pleiades, after the daughters of Atlas in ancient mythology.
Pleiades' director, Tom Elliott, has a background in both the old and the
new. He earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from Duke and a
doctoral degree in ancient history from UNC.
Pleiades, which will bring the information from the Barrington Atlas
online, will minimize some of the disadvantages of the printed text,
Elliott said. For one, scholars can easily alter the maps to include new
discoveries.
The online database also will emphasize collaboration. Somewhat like the
Web site Wikipedia, anyone -- from university professors to casual
students of antiquity -- can suggest updates to the maps. Pleiades will
have a team of editors review the suggestions for accuracy.
The site also will connect with databases at other universities. Site
visitors looking for a place on a map also may be able to find an overview
of excavations that occurred there or listings of where it is mentioned in
literature.
Elliott said he hoped the endeavor would lead other humanist scholars to
incorporate technology into their research. The link is more intuitive in
the sciences, and researchers in the humanities often have little training
in the ways that technology can enhance their research, he said.
URL for this article: http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-703770.html
*© Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. All material on heraldsun.com is
copyrighted by The Durham Herald Company and may not be reproduced or
redistributed in any medium except as provided in the site's Terms of Use.
*
[back] <http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-703770.html>
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- » [accessibleimage] Re: Ancient maps soon online - audible maps for the visually impaired
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-703770.html
Hi,
This sounds very interesting and will have audible maps for the visually impaired.
Regards,
Lisa
*
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-703770.html
Ancient maps to soon go online*
February 19, 2006 5:43 pm
CHAPEL HILL -- While they may study places and people that are thousands of years old, scholars at UNC are at the forefront of modernizing antiquity.
Researchers long have had to dip into hefty and static atlases to study the stomping grounds of Alexander the Great or the Roman emperors, but they soon will be able to do so on a comprehensive, open-source database on the Internet -- thanks to UNC's Ancient World Mapping Center.
The group started the project this month with the help of a $390,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Mapping center leaders hope the online project will serve as a template for other humanities scholars to incorporate technology into their research.
"You think it's all so old, boring and crusty," Richard Talbert, principal investigator of the project, said of the classics. "But it's not."
Talbert, a history and classics professor at UNC, spent 12 years editing the last large atlas of classical lands. The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, which was published in 2000, was the first work of its kind since the 1870s.
The book's 100 maps illustrate the classical world -- from the British Isles to the Indian subcontinent and into North Africa -- from 1000 B.C. to 640 A.D.
Praised by scholars, the volume does have limitations. The printed maps don't allow for easy inclusion of new discoveries. And at about three feet long and costing around $350, the book is not always accessible for readers.
"The more I got into it, I realized that this was likely only a beginning," Talbert said of his work on the Barrington Atlas.
Soon after that volume was published, the Ancient World Mapping Center was born at UNC and, with it, the idea to digitalize the maps.
The center also works on online and printed maps for beginning students, and audible maps for the visually impaired. The newest project is called Pleiades, after the daughters of Atlas in ancient mythology.
Pleiades' director, Tom Elliott, has a background in both the old and the new. He earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from Duke and a doctoral degree in ancient history from UNC.
Pleiades, which will bring the information from the Barrington Atlas online, will minimize some of the disadvantages of the printed text, Elliott said. For one, scholars can easily alter the maps to include new discoveries.
The online database also will emphasize collaboration. Somewhat like the Web site Wikipedia, anyone -- from university professors to casual students of antiquity -- can suggest updates to the maps. Pleiades will have a team of editors review the suggestions for accuracy.
The site also will connect with databases at other universities. Site visitors looking for a place on a map also may be able to find an overview of excavations that occurred there or listings of where it is mentioned in literature.
Elliott said he hoped the endeavor would lead other humanist scholars to incorporate technology into their research. The link is more intuitive in the sciences, and researchers in the humanities often have little training in the ways that technology can enhance their research, he said.
URL for this article: http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-703770.html
*© Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. All material on heraldsun.com is copyrighted by The Durham Herald Company and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any medium except as provided in the site's Terms of Use.
*
[back] <http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-703770.html>