New newsletter platform
This email is (hopefully) finding you via my new setup on Micro.blog. So, so you’ll see a different “from” address. Most importantly, unlike before, you cannot reply directly to this newsletter to get in touch. Please write separately to hello@oldinsurancemaps.net.
Getting out and about
Mapping USA: Video now on YouTube
At the very end of January I co-led a workshop during OpenStreetMap US’s virtual Mapping USA conference, Historical Mapping with OpenHistoricalMap, OldInsuranceMaps.net, and Yesterdays. These are three community-focused history projects that all swirl around the OpenStreetMap ecosystem, and
This week (tomorrow!): Code4Lib
I’m in Philadelphia this week presenting at Code4Lib 2026. If you happen to be attending, make sure to say hello! If not, all the presentations will be streamed on YouTube (more info here), so you can tune in around 9:30 am Eastern Time on Tuesday (tomorrow) to see me. Really looking forward to this!
I’ll also be doing a workshop on Thursday about hosting georeference-a-thons, and this will ultimately yield more information on the main website about that topic, so stay tuned for that.
Hacker News post
Earlier this month someone posted OldInsuranceMaps.net on HackerNews, which was exciting and just a bit stressful, 4,000 visitors in one day, about 100x the normal numbers! Overall it seems like the site held up pretty well, and it was fun to answer some questions in the ensuing discussion.
RSS, anyone??
We have a new code contributor, the first in many years! Josiah added some RSS feeds to the platform, so you can track activity on any maps within a given place. If you haven’t heard anyone mention RSS in the last 10 years, you aren’t alone. It is a protocol for publishing news feeds, but now we just get email notifications for everything. If you are interested in keeping track of what’s going on in OldInsuranceMaps.net without going to the website every morning, then find your place of interest here and click the RSS icon in the top right to get the feed URL. I expect we’ll be making updates to this over the next few months, so please reach out if you have any ideas or feedback.
