Harvesting placenames from old maps

Why should you try semantic annotation with Recogito?

• You want to work in a non-GIS environment.
• You want to identify toponyms (placenames) in a text or image.
• You want the option of working on your own or sharing with collaborators.
• You want to take advantage of IIIF technology (feeding images from elsewhere and/or generating annotations that you can use elsewhere. This will make sense when we see it in action.)

How do you feed a IIIF image into Recogito?

Most academic repositories and research libraries offer IIIF service for images. For example, for this 1887 map of Kyiv, the Davis Rumsey interface includes a "share" button where you can access the IIIF manifest. Here is an example of what it looks like: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/iiif/m/RUMSEY~8~1~373976~90140514/manifest

In Recogito, click the + NEW in upper left and choose IIIF manifest. Paste the manifest listed above. Once it loads, start annotating.

What if you want to search up coordinates for a named place (especially one that Recogito doesn't recognize)?

Your go-to authoritative modern gazetteer (searchable in most scripts): GeoNames

Are all coordinate formats created equal? 

Yes and no. Degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees offer the same information, but GIS tools almost universally demand decimal degree format. Cambridge, MA should look like this: 42.3751, -71.10561.

What if you want to delete an annotation you created in Recogito?

There isn't a "delete" button per se. However, the "document settings" tool brings you to a menu where you can select "edit history." Here you can select the version of the document (meaning the image or text together with all annotations) to which you want to revert. 

Keep your sanity: don't use your browser zoom.

This might sound crazy. Instead, use the zoom tools within Recogito to control the size of the popup edit box.