Ana PLOSNIĆ ŠKARIĆ | Natko KATIČIĆ
(Institut za povijest umjetnosti / Institute of Art History, Zagreb, Croatia)

Keywords: map searchable database, archival documents, urban history

Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to present and discuss an example of the map searchable database that contains full transcriptions of previously unpublished archival material.
There are thirty-five volumes (7972 folia, i.e. 15,944 pages) kept at the Dubrovnik State Archives that contain the deliberations of the three city councils of Dubrovnik (the Major Council, the Minor and the Senate), from the first half of the fifteenth century. From these volumes, all the deliberations concerning urban space and its buildings are systematically collected and transcribed. Instead of just publishing these 3362 deliberations (app 1,5 million characters) as a book, an effort was made and the map searchable database was established at the website (https://ducac.ipu.hr/project/mapping/ ). This database is meant to facilitate further in-depth research on Dubrovnik urban development.
First, we would present the programming within WordPress that supports the database; second, the issues we were facing while mapping late medieval data, and the third, a case-study made by using the database, presenting possibilities for further in-depth research. It is the case of a slaughterhouse and butchery, situated in Dubrovnik port. Due to the preserved city councils’ deliberations, it was possible to present its development in 3D schematic models.
This work was done within the project “Dubrovnik: Civitas et Acta Consiliorum. Visualizing Development of the Late Medieval Urban Fabric” (DUCAC), that was conducted at the Institute of Art History, Croatia, and funded by the Croatian Science Foundation.

Relevance for the conference: digital urban history
Relevance for the session: web application
Innovation: map searchable database of previously unpublished fifteenth-century documents
References:
• Danko Zelić, Ana Plosnić Škarić (eds.), Dubrovnik: Civitas et Acta Consiliorum 1400-1450, Zagreb: Institut za povijest umjetnosti, 2017.
• Ana Plosnić Škarić, Alessandra Ferrighi, “Dubrovnik: Civitas et Acta Consiliorum 1400–1450. Mapping Methodology and Data Analysis,” in: Ana Plosnić Škarić (ed.), Mapping urban changes / Mapiranje urbanih promjena, Zagreb: Institut za povijest umjetnosti, 2017.