Friday, April 17, 2020 by Eva Dodsworth
Got a bit of cabin fever and wish you could expand your sights a bit more? Take a break and have some fun exploring Kitchener and the world around you (virtually, of course!).
The Geospatial Centre is challenging you to a Google Maps scavenger quest. You’ll be surprised where you’ll go and what you’ll learn along the way. Complete all questions to solve the puzzle (you may need help from your big or little helpers who are home with you). Stay local with Finding Facts: Exploring Historical Kitchener or venture abroad to deserts and world renowned art galleries with Globe Trotting: The World at Your Fingertips.
This activity was created using some of the information that the Geospatial Centre staff have uncovered while working on a special geocoding project.
Have you ever stood in front of a historical building, looked up at it, taking in all the original features and wondered “what did this used to be? Who lived here, or worked here?” Have you ever wondered, what life in Kitchener was like 100 years ago? Were there restaurants or ice cream shops? What occupations did people have?
The Geospatial Centre wanted to help answer these questions, especially “where?”. Where were the factories and businesses, where did residents live and work? To do that, staff acquired digitized historical city directories from the Kitchener Public Library and started the process of geocoding them (assigning geographic coordinates to all of the entries). Instead of seeing rows and columns of text for every individual year, users will be able to view 100 years of information (including related advertisements) in one place, via an online map. This comprehensive organized portal to local historical information will enable historical narratives, and help see connections between people and their places.
If you need any hints, or have questions, please contact Eva Dodsworth.
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