Scanning the Portuguese America: archives, propagation, and digital transformation of historical cartography

Abstract

Over the last decades, manipulating or sharing maps from the past and producing historical cartography have considerably changed in face of computational developments. Such new and improved possibilities may also influence the methodology in researches that deal with these documents or products. However, simply applying this technology can be innocuous when it does not properly integrates with the purposes of an academic investigation. In this paper, we present a recent published selection of studies, mainly regarding colonial history, in which tools of informatics were used in an array of ways, from reproducing to analyzing and creating maps. Aside from their particular arguments, these researches will be primarily examined on their relations with contemporary debates surrounding the redefinitions of the field of history of cartography. Proposing a preliminary classification that arranges studies according to their usage of computer resources, we advocate in favor of the ones in which technology is intrinsically related to problems and matters of historical analyzes.