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THE PRESENT
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The Collection
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The map collection is home to approximately 400,000 sheet maps, atlases and map-related
reference materials. Most of these items are sheet maps acquired from the GPO and other federal
agencies, including the (long-ago dismantled) Army Map Service depository program. Other
sources include library discards, outside donors, and defunct collections from elsewhere on
campus (e.g., the Geography Dep't).
Major components of the print map collection include:
* Topographic maps of the US and world
* Geologic/hydrologic maps of the US and world
* Nautical charts of the US and World
* Soil maps of the US and world
* Aeronautical and pilotage charts of the US and world
* Tract maps from 20th-century decennial censuses of the US
* Public land maps of the western US
* Reference and thematic maps of the US and world
The map collection also includes a wide variety of smaller, often historically significant
resources. Examples include:
* Historic maps from the Congressional Serial Set
* Historic weather maps of the US
* Historic topographic maps of MD
* Historic geologic maps of the US (i.e., USGS Geologic Atlas of the US)
* War Dep't "Newsmaps" (WWII-era)
* Report of surveys and explorations of the Intercont'l Railway Commission [1891-1893]
* War Dep't Terrain Studies of the Pacific Theater (WWII-era)
* National Park and Forest maps
* 20th-century electrical infrastructure maps of the US
* 20th-century congressional district maps
* Flood-insurance maps of the metro DC region
* Raised relief maps of the US and World
* Land-use/cover maps of the US
* City plans of select foreign locations
* Geologic, topographic and photomosaics of the moon and other celestial bodies
* Wall maps
* Road maps and travel guides for Maryland, the US and world
In addition to sheet maps, there are approximately 550 thematic, national, state and historic
atlases stored on the 4th floor, as well as several hundred map- and geography-related reference
materials.
Staffing
========
The map collection is related physically, administratively and bibliographically to the
government documents collection. It is officially staffed by the entire GovDocs & Maps unit, but
primary responsibility for the collection rests with one full-time contractual librarian and one
half-time student assistant.
Services
========
We offer two primary services:
1) reference assistance, which is available via chat, email, phone or in-person
2) course instruction
These services are directed toward three primary user groups: the University community, the
DC-DE-MD Federal Depository Region, and the general public.
To the extent that we really know, our users appear to be a combination of students, researchers
and the general public. Not surprisingly, they're most interested in maps of Mid-Atlantic region,
specifically Maryland and Washington, DC. Foreign maps are also in demand, as are historic and
thematic maps of all regions. Compared to our peer institutions and other comparable map
libraries, our reference statistics are quite low. We receive far fewer reference requests than other
libraries, and anecdotal evidence suggests that our ties to the academic community are much less
well-established than they often are at other institutions.
Collection Development
======================
Several broad principles guide the acquisition of print maps and related cartographic materials:
1) Pursuant to our role as a Regional Depository, we collect all maps distributed by the FDLP,
regardless of format. This includes items once distributed to Regionals but currently missing
from our collection. Maps from the DC-DE-MD region are often held for historical purposes, but
other depository items are generally superseded and withdrawn according to FDLP guidelines.
2) Non-depository items, be they commerically or governmentally produced, are collected as
needed to support the teaching and research needs of the UM community, the citizens of
Maryland and the general public.
* Geographic and Subject Guidelines: Topography, transportation, political, agricultural,
nautical and geological maps and atlases are sought for all areas of the world, including the US
and its territories and possessions. Thematic and historical maps and atlases are sought on a
selective basis. Particular emphasis is placed on maps of Maryland and the District of Columbia,
both historical and contemporary.
* Format Guidelines: Sheet maps, folded maps, atlases and other print-based cartographic
materials are collected. Data sets, digital maps and other electronic formats are collected
according to FDLP guidelines or at the discretion of the GIS/Data librarian. Rolled wall maps,
globes and terrain models are actively collected.
* Chronological Guidelines: Emphasis is placed on the 20th century. Antiquarian and
manuscript maps are not actively collected.
* Languages: English is the primary language of the collection but maps in all languages
are considered for inclusion.
* Other Considerations: Historic and local or state government maps of Maryland are
collected to the extent that our collection doesn't duplicated that of Marylandia and Rare Books
(a state depository library).
3) Map-related reference materials, including indexes, cartobibliographies, dictionaries,
glossaries, catalogs, books and periodicals on map librarianship, and other materials related to
the map collection and its management and preservation are actively collected.
Access
======
The vast majority of the unit's map and atlas collection--all of which is stored on McKeldin's 4th
floor--is publicly accessible during library hours. A minority of items, most notably the
conserved Serial Set maps and the historic weather maps, are kept in the GovDocs & Maps
"core." These materials are available by appointment or during the unit's hours of operation (i.e.,
48 hours/week during the semester). The maps and atlases don't circulate on a regular basis, but
both are eligible for special loans at the staff's discretion.
For a variety of reasons, intellectual access to the map collection is limited. The majority of our
holdings (e.g., nearly all of our foreign maps and most of the older depository items) are
altogether absent from the catalog. Many of the items with OPAC records (e.g., topographic
maps) appear only in serial records, so precise, geographically-based searching is impossible.
Indexes and home-grown finding aids exist for many of the items not in the OPAC, but these
tools aren't apparent to casual users and, due to age and continuous shifting of the collection,
need revision.
Of the large number of classified (but uncataloged) maps, many have SuDoc call numbers but
are otherwise uncataloged and absent from available finding aids. In other words, they're on the
shelf, but nothing points to them.
There is no standard, one-size-fits-all scheme for shelving. Maps are arranged according to one
or more of the following criteria:
* series (which often corresponds to a SuDoc call number)
* subject (e.g., geology, statistical, National Parks, etc.)
* geographical location (e.g., state, region, country)
* format (i.e., flat or folded)
* size
Even with exemplary signage (which we don't currently have), few visitors to the collection
would be able to browse the collection efficiently, even to locate known items.
Equipment
=========
The collection is currently stored in 145 5-drawer map cases, 6 vertical filing units and
approximately 1200 linear feet of shelf space.
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THE FUTURE
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The map collection provides a variety of users with free and unlimited access to cartographic
materials from government and corporate publishers. Properly maintained, it can meet a wide
range of user needs, both scholarly and otherwise, while continuing to support the staff's interest
in educating users in the value of maps and geographic information.
There are, however, several areas where we'll need to improve if this is to become a "state of the
art" collection.
Budget
======
First and foremost, our collections budget is too small to support any sort of substantial addition
to (or redirection of) the collection. With little more than $1,000/year, we are unable to
supplement the existing collection with anything but odds and ends. Significant collections of the
sort that would notably increase the collection's utility to the UM community (including, for
example, large-scale topographic or property maps of the DC metro area, aerial photos of
Maryland, etc., none of which come through the FDLP) could easily consume several years'
worth of our annual budget. Atlases alone can often cost three, four or five hundred dollars
apiece, a figure which makes almost any single title--even a basic reference item--prohibitively
expensive for us to buy on our own. Moreover, many cartographic materials produced by the
federal government are no longer distributed to depository libraries, we're increasingly required
to purchase items (e.g., census tract maps) that once came to us free-of-charge.
To truly support this collection--to make it sustainable and useful to the academic community-the Libraries would need to increase our existing budget by a factor of at least three.
Staffing
========
To ensure the health and viability of the collection, the Libraries would be well-served by
staffing the it with a non-contractual librarian.
Location of Geographic Resources
================================
A substantial number of cartographic materials are stored elsewhere in the libraries. This
arrangement impedes our ability to manage and care for the Libraries cartographic resources. It
also detracts from the services we can provide to users.
For example, there are also thousands of oversized maps--many of which are part of or bound
with older, historically important government documents--shelved at MOSS or elsewhere in the
Libraries. Although these items (or the volumes the're associated with) are accessible through the
catalog, the maps aren't properly maintained and may not be in any condition to circulate.
Examples include:
* Battle Monuments Commission, Summary of operations in the World War, 1944 [~25
volumes with folded maps]; McK Stk | D570 .3
* Division/Bureau of Soils, Field operations [1899-1920; 1000's of boxed maps]; PerStk |
S591 .A2
* Annual reports of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the
Territories, 1867-1873 [~12 vols.]; MOSS | QE74 .H4
Similarly, there are more than 800 additional atlases shelved elsewhere in the Libraries. (Many
of these items are more current than what's on the 4th floor, and because we're already
underfunded, our own atlas collection is each day being made obsolete by what's available
elsewhere in the Libraries.)
In the interest of creating a centralized location for cartographic materials and providing better,
more efficient and more informed service, we would like to see these items (as well as the
library's periodicals on map librarianship) transferred to the 4th floor and integrated into our
holdings.
Finally, there are also thousands of print maps improperly stored (i.e., folded) in our own
collection. In many cases, those maps are intellectually or bibliographically related to flat maps
elsewhere in the GovDocs & Maps collection. Assimilating them will take a great deal of time,
and in some cases may require input and/or assistance from the Conservation Department.
(Folded maps, esp. if they're old or brittle, should be "relaxed" in a humid environment rather
than forcibly flattened.)
Access
======
A substantial impediment to fully realizing the potential of our existing (or future) collection is
the lack of intellectual access. While it's not uncommon for map libraries to have some portion of
their holdings absent from the OPAC, UM's situation is considerably worse than that of either
our peer institutions or other, comparable collections. We need our current holdings cataloged,
and we need improved technical/bibliographic support for future acquisitions. Until this happens,
we'll continue to (need to) allocate resources to the creation and maintenance of supplementary
finding aids, and we'll continue to acquire and shelve new (non-FDLP) materials that, because
they aren't cataloged, have no reasonable hope of being independently discovered or found by
our own users.
Service
=======
We do not currently have strong ties with the university's academic departments and research
groups. In fact, we receive very little "systematic," semester-by-semester attention from teaching
faculty, students or researchers on campus.
For example, although we have a large collection of contemporary and historic geological maps
of the Maryland and Mid-Atlantic region (as well as the US and foreign lands), we very rarely
receive requests for geologic maps. Indeed, there potentially dozens of academic departments on
campus whose curricula could easily benefit from the use of cartographic materials. To name a
few:
* Agricultural and Resource Economics
* Agriculture and Natural Resources
* Architecture
* Atmospheric & Oceanic Science and Meteorology
* Business
* Environmental Science and Policy
* Geography
* Geology
* Government and Politics
* Historic Preservation
* History
* Landscape Architecture
* Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences
* Natural Resources Management
* Natural Resource Sciences
* Urban Studies & Planning
* Sustainable Development & Conservation Biology
In some cases, we lack the materials these users need and don't have the budget to change that. In
other cases, we believe the problem is largely one of awareness and visibility. Ideally, we'd have
the resources, both financial and human, combat this by acquiring materials the community
needs and undertaking a sustained effort to publicize the collection and build stronger ties to the
academic community. We have a very good collection, and it should be used more than it is.
Equipment
=========
The majority of our map cases and atlas stands are in very good physical condition, but we need
more of it. If nothing else, the 30,000 conserved Serial Set maps will soon occupy all the existing
room for growth we currently have in our flat map cases.
The vertical filing units we recently put into use (to free space in the flat map cases for the
incoming Serial Set maps) are less than ideal. They're awkward to use--retrieving and reshelving
maps is difficult--and they aren't conducive to proper (flat) storage techniques. They also off-gas
substantially.
In short, additional map cases will be necessary if we add to the collection--either by transferring
folded maps to map cases, or by acquiring maps through purchase, donation, etc.--and expect to
take proper care of our holdings.
Our atlas stands are in good physical condition, but they're very nearly full--we can
accommodate very few new items--and they aren't appropriate for our oversized items (which
should be stored flat rather than vertically).
Users often like to make copies of our items, so the large format, black & white photocopier we
have is one of the few perks we can offer. Unfortunately, the service contract expired and the
machine is no longer reliable. Moreover, we have no facility for scanning print maps or making
large format color copies, two services that would also be of great use to our patrons.