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UW Digital Collections, Geography Department Receive Governor's Award
Posted 10/07/2011
MADISON, Wis. – A partnership between the UW Digital Collections Center (UWDCC) and Department of Geography is the winner of the 2011 Award for Archival Innovation for their work on the Changing Landscapes of Wisconsin Project. This award highlights projects that demonstrate the significance or relevance of historical records in new ways, or that use historical records to reach new audiences.
Made possible by a grant from the Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment at UW–Madison, the Changing Landscapes of Wisconsin project is meant to preserve and expand access to a rare collection of historic aerial photographs of Wisconsin’s landscapes taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the United States Geological Survey from 1937-1941.
The photographs were expertly digitized and indexed by the UWDCC and made available to researchers using the Wisconsin Historic Aerial Image Finder, a tool created by the State Cartographer’s Office which combines the historical images with modern mapping technology. Through the WHAIFinder, researchers can see how over a period of 70 years the rural areas of the state were altered significantly by expanding urban development.
The photography collection and the WHAIFinder can be accessed through the Department of Geography’s website.
