[MassHistPres] Database Systems for Historic Resource Information

[Joseph Larson]

Pelham does the same.

 

Joseph S. Larson, Chairman

Town of Pelham

Historical Commission

27 Arnold Road

Pelham, Mass. 01002-9757

413-256-8256

 

 

 

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Anne Forbes
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2014 12:47 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Database Systems for Historic Resource
Information

 

I would strongly recommend the Amherst model for linking a community's
historic properties inventory to the MACRIS database.  

 

Using any town funds to set up a system that is largely redundant seems both
wasteful and confusing to the public.  MACRIS is already set up, and is
searchable state-wide and by category.  In addition, getting the public used
to working with MACRIS , and now the MACRIS maps, can pay off in expanding
local thinking to at least a regional perspective.  Even if a searcher is
interested only in one local property, discovering that the context for the
associated families, builders, styles, etc. may be broader than the
community's borders is valuable in itself.  I've never seen a local survey
database that can do that.

 

Anne Forbes,

Acton

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: gismgr <mailto:gismgr at sec.state.ma.us>  

To: 'masshistpres at cs.umb.edu' 

Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2014 9:03 AM

Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Database Systems for Historic Resource
Information

 

Ms. Kritzer,

 

One example of something similar to what you're looking to do has been
implemented in Amherst.  The Town of Amherst has linked their municipal GIS
to the MHC's own MACRIS database, which contains scanned historic inventory
forms for historic resources in almost every town in the Commonwealth.  It
might be worth contacting Amherst to find out more about how well it works
for the public through their GIS, but if you search for a property or parcel
at their property search and then map it in their online viewer, a link to
the appropriate MACRIS entry for any structures, objects, or landscapes on
the MHC's inventory associated with that parcel is given (only if there is
an inventoried item on the property in the first place).  The gateway to the
Amherst GIS can be found here: http://amherstma.gov/PropertySearch. The GIS
contact there is Michael Olkin, olkinm at amherstma.gov.  

 

Alternatively, the MHC's online historic mapping tool, MACRIS Maps
(http://maps.mhc-macris.net/), supplies links directly to our MACRIS
database where scanned historic inventory forms are downloadable by anyone.
Any point or district on the map can be selected using the various tools we
have available underneath the site's search bar, and once a selected point
is highlighted in the informational panel at the bottom of the screen, a
link to the pertinent MACRIS entry for that item appears.  Please feel free
to contact me if you have any questions about how to use this resource
and/or its connection to the scanned inventory forms.   Thank you,

 

 

Miles Shugar

GIS Data Entry Supervisor

Massachusetts Historical Commission

Preservation Planning Division

220 Morrissey Blvd

Boston, MA 02125

(617) 727-8470

 


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