National Library of Norway's new database of 22 manuscript maps concerning the Swedish King Charles XII's campaign in Norway in 1716 and 1718

Abstract

The National Library of Norway is planning to digitise approximately 1,500 manuscript maps. Two years ago we started working on a pilot project, and for this purpose we chose 22 maps small enough to be photographed in one piece. We made slides 6 x 7 cm in size, converted the slides into PhotoCDs and used four different resolutions on JPEG-files. To avoid large file sizes, we had to divide the version with the biggest resolution into four pieces. The preliminary work was done in Photoshop, the database on the web is made in Oracle. You can click on the map to zoom. Norwegians and probably Swedes during the Great Northern War drew the 22 maps when the Swedish King Charles XII in 1716 and 1718 unsuccessfully attempted to conquer Norway. The database is now accessible on the National Library of Norway's web site. The database is in Norwegian, but we are working on an English version as well. The maps are searchable on different topics, countries, counties, geographical names, shelfmarks or a combination of these. We are planning to expand the database to other manuscript maps later. This is the reason why it is possible to search for obvious subjects as Charles XII and the Great Northern War.