I was passed a message regarding your thread on this list regarding obtaining out-of-copyright mapping.
I'm one of the mad mappers creating new mapping using GPS receivers as part of www.OpenStreetMap.org (OSM) and I believe some of our mapping is now gracing the pages of wikipedia.
You might look at our recent map of Oakham from our Rutland mapping weekend to see the sort of thing we now generate. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Image:Oakham_labelled.png
We have today been having a similar discussion about obtaining and digitising out-of-copyright OS mapping on the talk-gb@openstreetmap.org mailing list (http://lists.openstreetmap.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/talk-gb). Some of those involved in OSM have recently got the New Popular Edition Maps for England and Wales on the web at http://www.npemap.org.uk/ and others, including myself have a small collection of other out-of-copyright OS mapping but a much more systematic and quality approach is required to really take anything further.
The maps and their scanning for the npe site were done by Richard Fairhurst, also an OSMer. He bore the original cost of finding the maps and getting them scanned commercially.
So while OSM is creating new mapping we also have an interest in obtaining and utilising digital versions of out-of-copyright mapping, both in the UK and elsewhere (if only we could get the Imperial War Museum's stuff). Our interest in historical mapping is too fold. Firstly it permits us to utilise a background image to draw in data which cannot easily be collected with a GPS unit or is not discernable from the Landsat imagery we currently use as a back image when editing. Secondly, with time we expect much more historical information will also end up in OSM since a large amount of our landscape outside of the urban conurbations has changed relatively little with time and is still just as relevant today.
It is clear from the few emails to this list I consulted that there is some common interest here. Both OSM and wikimediauk want access to out-of-copyright mapping, both have limited funds, neither has lots of space to archive our own maps. Thus perhaps some cross discussion might help find some solutions.
Look forward to hearing back
Cheers
Andy Robinson Andy_J_Robinson@blueyonder.co.uk