Maps as a Recordkeeping Technology

This paper considers the impact of cartographic technologies on recordkeeping, with a focus on British government records of land ownership between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries. During the nineteenth century, advances in mapmaking techniques, particularly in relation to surveying and reproduction, led to more maps being available that could be reused or adapted for recordkeeping purposes. The fully effective use of maps as records emerged not only because of such developments in cartographic techniques but also because record creators developed the mindset to embrace the administrative potential of maps and incorporate them into recordkeeping systems.