Interacting with London’s Industry, 1865-1895: creating a deep online map with HGIS and a MediaWiki database

• In Event: Digital Maps and Visualizations for Research and Public Outreach

Abstract

With more than 1500 factories identified on the first two versions of the Ordinance Survey’s detailed maps of London, it is not possible to reproduce the detail information recorded an HGIS database in books or journal articles. An online map makes it possible to zoom and scroll from an overview of the whole the metropolis down to an individual factory. Hovering the pointer over a factory provides further information including the name found on the map and some information on what it produced. It is also possible to offer a link for visitors to explore the history of a factory in more detail. Clicking a factory brings visitors to pages in a companion Semantic MediaWiki database with information on major individual factories or to a more general page on an industry (such as soap making or tanning). The factory and industry pages in the MediaWiki database include a paragraph on the history of the factory or industry in London, links to primary and secondary sources, and a list of products and raw materials consumed in the production process. The lists link to pages with more information on the individual commodities. These commodity pages rely on information found in databases created by the Trading Consequences text mining project and a new database of British trade statistics created by the London’s Ghosts Acres project to visualize and map the changing supply chains during the second half of the nineteenth century. Developing a deep interactive map by linking a HGIS database with a MediaWiki database, text mined results and trade statistics creates a useful tool for research and makes the results available to a public audience. Enthusiastic responses on social media to some early drafts of the map suggest there is considerable public interest in this resource.

Author

• Jim Clifford, University of Saskachewan