The GIS Student Assistants will support the Historical Athens County Atlas Mapping Initiative, a collaboration between Ohio University Libraries and the Southeast Ohio History Center. Students will help georeference selected maps from the 1875 and 1905 Athens County atlases, document technical workflows, and contribute to a public, interactive ArcGIS-based map interface.
The position is based in Digital Initiatives, a unit within Archives & Special Collections, which supports hands-on student work with archival and digitized materials.
This position will provide students with applied experience in:
- Historical map georeferencing — aligning scanned atlas maps with present-day geographic data using ArcGIS tools.
- Working with primary sources — reading and interpreting historical maps.
- Technical documentation — recording methods, decisions, and project steps.
- Web mapping — reviewing map layers for accuracy and quality and developing a public, interactive online map.
- Accessibility and usability — considering how different audiences will use the map.
- Collaboration — working with the project team and partners.
- Public scholarship — helping with a campus Georef-a-thon and contributing to a project blog post.