Holy molely! I took a closer look at this and see that they're NOT 
digitizing the current/modern/recent series of quads, but all the HISTORICAL 
series, all the way back to the first ones in 1884!

That'll be a fantastic resource for historians/historical archaeologists 
when completed (even IF it turns out to be a crony-contract, it's a good 
thang)!

Hell, even the good folks at  TNRIS (who are housed in the same office 
building as I am and had to cede a lot of space during the 
privatizing/guvmint-slashing administration of Governor Bush) THREW AWAY 
their whole collection of historical quads (several pallet loads). I (and 
the few other state-agency archaeologists in the building) could only save a 
small fraction of them before they went to the recycle dumpster. I think I 
managed to snag one of the oldest for each major city in Texas ... but the 
vast majority were pulped.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Smoke
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 8:55 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Scanning and Georeferencing Historical USGS Quadrangles

Scanning and Georeferencing Historical USGS Quadrangles
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2011/3009/

What is this project about?
As part of the new National Map the United States Geological Survey
intends to provide digital images of all its historical topographic
quadrangles. Users will have access to 180,000 7.5 minute (1:24000)
quadrangles and another 120,000 maps at other scales. Contractors are
creating these images by scanning paper maps at resolutions of 500-600
dots per inch. Thus the scans are essentially perfect facsimiles of
the existing printed archive.
Full utility of the scanned images requires that they be
"georeferenced", that is, the images must be tied to a known
coordinate system. For example, without georeferencing there would be
no way to overlay the maps on other layers comprising the National
Map, nor would it be possible to assemble a seamless image from
adjoining scans.
Existing georeferencing software employs what is essentially a manual
procedure requiring users to digitize known locations on the screen
and enter text in dialog boxes. At about 20 minutes per scan, more
than 45 person-years would be needed to georeference the entire set of
scanned images. This far exceeds available resources.
Our project aims to replace the manual process with an automated
procedure that can process large numbers of scans with no operator
supervision.

QUAD-G – Automated Georeferencing Project
http://www.geography.wisc.edu/research/projects/QUAD-G/
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2011/3009/

-- 
Smoke Pfeiffer

Laws do not represent either reason or justice.
They represent force.