I really enjoyed the process of georectification, and would like to do more of it in the future. The map that I used was of my home state, Michigan (with an emphasis on post office locations), and similar to 3D modelling, it required me to pay more attention than I normally would to something that I care about. Being able to overlay my modified map onto a super accurate one was interesting, and seeing it match up well made me oddly happy. This process changed the way I view other digital humanities projects by reminding me that almost every map is at least a little bit wrong in one way or another, even those created very recently. I hadn’t considered how much work is required to adjust and correct slight distortions in the ways that are necessary in order to fit historical maps to more accurate contemporary ones.
Having tools available to conduct georectifying opens up many possibilities, since it allows old, outdated, or extremely distorted maps to gain a new level of utility. The most broad use for these “updated” maps is probably to compare historical location data in visually compelling ways. For instance, the MI post offices map that I rectified could be used in conjunction with many others from different decades to compare changing routes, centers of industry, and population centers while also keeping any stylistic choices used at those periods of time. Another idea I had was to combine many different historic maps into one large, mosaic-style map that covers a broader area. Since my map was of Michigan, it made me wonder about what a US map made of georectified state/territory maps from the colonial era would look like.
While georeferencing is applicable to many scenarios, there are limitations to what it can do. One problem I encountered while trying to find a map to reference was that many old maps are severely lacking in geographic detail, especially when it doesn’t relate to the main subject (maps of compounds/castles/fortresses) and many locations that have been mapped are radically different now in comparison to hundreds of years ago. This makes pinpointing their exact locations extremely difficult, if not outright impossible. Another is that some maps are so distorted that even if the outer bounds of the mapped area are shifted to the correct positions, those plotted inside will still be off. These issues could make georeferencing unreliable for answering questions that require precision and accuracy.
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Connor, I totally agree with the mapping being satisfying. I mapped Louisiana and LOVED matching up the points and then seeing the overlay. I thought your comment about maps never truley being perfect was super interesting. I’d never thought about it before. A question for you is: do you think maps will ever be fully perfect? Will there ever be technology to be totally accurate? And, are we setting our standards too high in expecting that?