Abstract

AREVALO-MALDONADO, Esteban Xavier. Historical geoportals as media for the dissemination of culture. Universitas [online]. 2020, n.33, pp.39-60. ISSN 1390-8634.  https://doi.org/10.17163/uni.n33.2020.02.

This work analyses the importance of the historical geoportals for an appropriate dissemination of the cartographic heritage. This includes the artefacts produced by the cartography in the past. Many of them are fragile and their conservation is achieved through their digitization. However, heritage is culture and therefore should not be stored but shared. The general public should know the heritage goods so those can transmit culture. In this context it is necessary the creation of some media that could effectively grant access to the historical digitized maps. The aim of this document is to analyse the value of the cartographic heritage and to explore media for its effective dissemination. For doing so, there will be introduced several projects developed in Europe for the dissemination of the documental heritage and in particular the cartographic heritage, the latter using historical geoportals. Several European institutions have created digital libraries and historical geoportals. Furthermore, a centralized library has been developed for accessing the contents of a number of institutions across the continent. Even if in Latin America a similar project has been implemented it has limitations as maps are not depicted using the functionalities required in a historical geoportal. It is concluded that the creation of a historical geoportal for the historical documents of Ecuador could grant to the public a better knowledge of the built historic heritage fostering therefore their governance.

Keywords : Map; cartography; documental heritage; digitalization; digital library; dissemination of culture.

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