PRESERVING AND DIGITALLY ARCHIVING HISTORIC COAL MINE MAPS FOR INDIANA'S COAL MINE INFORMATION SYSTEM
To gain access to the historic mine maps, the IGS established a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indiana State Archives, where the documents are stored. This agreement allows the IGS temporary possession of the historic maps in order to preserve, repair (when necessary), and scan the documents. We determined the steps and procedures to preserve the documents from recommendations given by Jim Canary, Special Collections Conservator of the Indiana University Lilly Library. These steps include humidifying the folded maps, flattening, repairing, and encapsulating (when necessary) each map to prepare it for scanning. We use scanning standards recommended by OSM's Underground Mine Mapping Committee to achieve a digital visual equivalent of the mine map and archive the raw tagged image file (TIF) that results.
The resulting images from this process represent the most accurate and carefully duplicated mine map images possible. These digital images are archived at the IGS and the OSM Mine Map Repository in Pittsburgh, Pa. Additionally, the images will be integrated into the CMIS and made available along with other coal mine data to the public through the IGS Web site.