Methods

The full User’s Guide for the Building Borders Project is available for download in the Download Files section of the website.

​Geo-referencing
  1. Whenever possible, researchers used graticule lines (1 degree) to geo-reference maps. When that was not available, researchers geo-referenced maps based off state, provincial, sectional, or township lines.
Features
  1. Researchers altered spellings across maps in order to standardize place names. Ex. Fort Calgarry was renamed Fort Calgary.
  2. Indigenous settlements often appeared on colonial maps as pictorial drawings with no accompanying text. We digitized these locations and used the descriptor “tipi picture” to indicate the ambiguity inherent in this depictions
  3. The researchers recorded the historic place names (hills etc) that appeared on 19th century maps within a 200 mile buffer zone of the Canada-U.S. border.
  4. The phrase “Customs officer” often appeared on the maps with no point to indicate their exact location. In these instances, the customs officer was recorded as residing in the town adjacent to the text.
File Organization
  1. The vast majority of our data can be interacted with as an aggregate via the embedded ArcGIS Online maps on this site. The data can also be downloaded as excel files or as shape files (ArcGIS). These downloadable files often contain additional information including the names, date of appointment, etc. for each employee at each agency.
  2. Merging: Geographic features that appeared on multiple maps from the same year were combined into a single shape file for ease of use. 
Data Entry
  1. The User Guide contains a list of possible errors or inaccuracies for each data source. The Department of Indian Affairs Employee records for Canada may contain errors as a result of an unclear use of headings in the original primary sources. 
  2. In cases of ambiguity, the Building Borders team conducted additional research to determine locations. The American consular officers located in the territory that later became Canada, for example were listed in the original primary source with no indication of province. Researchers consulted the “List of United States Consular Officers for 1907” at the National Archives and Records Administration and conducted online searches of the consul’s name in order to determine the location of the city.
  3. Researchers noted illegible letters or numbers with [?]
  4. The researchers developed qualitative descriptors to help quantify textual information. For the United States Military District of Missouri, for example, “Infrastructure” was rated based on the scale below. Full details for how and where this was done can be found in the User’s Guide. 0: Bad, require repairs, poor. 1: Mixed, with bad condition for barracks, tents, or casements 2: Fair, serviceable, mixed and unknown which buildings are good or bad. 3: Mixed, with good condition for barracks and bad condition for non-essential buildings. 4: Good
 
Checking
The majority of records available on this site were created through a double key data entry process that occurred in four parts:
  1.  Parallel Entry: Two researchers entered the information from a primary source independently from one another.
  2.  Pre-Cleaning: A third research did a rough check to highlight obvious omissions between entries, fix column headings etc.
  3. Machine Checking: A computer using Sykronizer then checked the two entries against one another to flag discrepancies and inconsistencies.
  4.  Manual Reconciliation: For each discrepancy/inconsistency highlighted by Sykronizer, the third researcher returned to the primary source to determine the correct entry and make the appropriate correction.

Image Citations

​Cameron, Donald Roderick (D. R.), and British North American Boundary Commission. “British North American Boundary Commission Photographs,” 1872-1876 . SIS C6/156 [1872-1876]. Manitoba Archive.

​Johnston, J., and Dominion Lands Office, Department of the Interior. “General Map of the Northwest Territories and of the Province of Manitoba Revised and Corrected to 31st August, 1894.” ca. 1:800,000. Ottawa: Department of the Interior, 1894. Peel’s Prairie Province, Map 464. University of Alberta Library. http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/maps/M000464.html.