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Hi Sarah This subject is one of my pet hates as we have fallen foul of the pricing policy of historic maps in the past. Its probably best for me not to get started on this but here goes... About 5 years ago I enquired about buying all pre 1950 OS maps in a digital format. I was quoted £400 for full coverage of all four of our districts. Unfortunately we did not go ahead with the purchase as we had little cash. A year later I was in a position to buy the maps so asked for a new quote which came back at around £4000 per district. This massive hike in price seems to have been caused by the duty of Local Authorities to provide a contaminated land register. Landmark can supply all historic maps with digitised layers showing areas identified as contaminated (usually industrial archaeology). Whereas previously historic mapping had no commercial use it now has a captive market. To be fair to the OS I understand that last year they asked each local authority if they wanted historic maps to be provided under existing service level agreements (at an additional but not substantial cost). Amazingly local authorities unanimously voted against receiving this extra material! We are currently in the situation where the resource is not available for two of our districts given the restrictive pricing. The engineering departments of the two others have purchased the Landmark package at substantial cost. One has let us share the data and wrote off the cost at a strategic level. The other authority are understandably unwilling to share the data without recouping some of their financial outlay. They are however quite happy for me to visit their department and use the data but will not supply a copy. We are therefore stuck with paper maps for the moment and trips to the record office on a needs must basis. All I can say is that we should be petitioning our OS liaison officers to make them understand the cross-departmental value of this data. Hopefully if the OS decide to offer the material again as part of the license its value will be recognised second time around. Sorry to go on. Peter (Tees Archaeology) (01429) 5234358 ----- Original Message ----- From: <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 9:10 AM Subject: Digital Historic OS maps - Advice wanted > Can I ask for advice about getting old OS maps for use on our GIS - is > there more than one way to obtain them or is Landmark the only source? Is > there any way of making it more affordable? > > Thanks > Sarah Orr > West Berkshire SMR > 01635 519534 > > > Disclaimer > This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for > the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you > have received this e-mail in error (a) please tell us immediately and > (b) take no action based on it, nor copy or show it to anyone. > > The views and opinions expressed in this email are personal to the > sender and do not represent the positions and policies of West > Berkshire Council. > > Although this e-mail and its attachments have been screened and are > believed to be free from any virus, it is the responsibility of the > recipient to ensure that they are virus free. This Authority will not > accept liability for any damage caused by a virus. > ********************************************************************** The contents of this email are confidential and are intended for the use of the individual to whom they are addressed. This footnote confirms that this email message has successfully been virus scanned. Any problems, please contact [log in to unmask] **********************************************************************