1624explore

1624explore is a digital humanities platform and online resource designed to help users study the year 1624 through primary sources, data visualizations, and scholarly commentary.

The project aggregates letters, voyage logs, official records, maps, and printed works from libraries and archives around the world. It emphasizes interconnected data, linking people, places, events, and artifacts to support cross-disciplinary research and teaching.

Key features include an interactive map showing travel routes and political boundaries in 1624, a timeline that situates events within broader historical context, a searchable text corpus with metadata, and a linked-data interface. The platform provides export options and an API for researchers.

Origins and governance: launched by a consortium of libraries, museums, and universities. It operates with open access and community contribution, employing standards such as TEI for texts and IIIF for images.

Impact and reception: academic usage for coursework and research; some critique about completeness and interpretation biases in source selection; ongoing updates and user feedback influence expansions.