-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        RE: Cataloging policy and practice for maps extracted from
atlases
Date:   Fri, 16 May 2008 11:39:42 -0600
From:   Ken Rockwell <[log in to unmask]>
To:     <[log in to unmask]>

I'm sure a lot of us wince at the thought of the atlas that got
butchered for profit, as we see the end result in our hands, a single
sheet separated from all of its mates.  From a strictly cataloging
perspective, it's often difficult to identify just which atlas it came
from.  Those common 19th century notes in the margin re "Entered
according to an Act of Congress" gives a good date for the call number,
but the same map may be used in an atlas several years after that date.
So in the ideal world, we'd love to do the whole atlas.  But here we
have the sheet, and the lone map is still a useful work by itself.  But
not if a user can't find it in the first place!

I note that you say "Cataloging administration at this library has
expressed strong reluctance" to catalog these maps, thus aiding and
abetting the practice of breaking up the atlases.  Have they expressed
this to the branch of the library responsible for selecting the maps for
purchase?  If they want the library to stand on this principle, they'll
need to recruit the aid of the selector, else the library has a case of
split personality on the matter.  But so long as the purchase has been
done, I think it's in the end users' interest to have all library
resources in the catalog.  As a cataloger, I've always assumed that my
job is to catalog whatever they throw at me; it's not my job to
second-guess and resist the actions of others in the library who made
the decision to acquire something.

It would be interesting to hear the conversation between your
"Cataloging administration" and the purchaser of these atlas sheets!
The Purist vs. the Pragmatist duke it out...

Upshot:  The damage was done before the sheet came to you; by cataloging
it, you at least make it so the atlas didn't "die in vain;" its
"offspring" the individual sheets live on, being of use to users in
their scattered library homes.

--Ken Rockwell
  Map Cataloger
  Univ. of Utah

-----Original Message-----
From: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Maps-L Moderator
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 9:20 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Cataloging policy and practice for maps extracted from atlases

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        FW: Cataloging policy and practice for maps extracted
from
atlases
Date:   Fri, 16 May 2008 10:05:16 -0500
From:   Harry Davis <[log in to unmask]>
To:     <[log in to unmask]>



Advice needed!

We have a number of map sheets that exist as items removed (not by us)
from atlases, most especially pre-20^th -century atlases. Some of these
maps are gifts, while some are past purchases.

Cataloging administration at this library has expressed strong
reluctance to provide any publicly-shared cataloging (via OCLC) for maps
that have been extracted from historical atlases. The position is
principled in the belief that "breaking" integral books (atlases in this
case) is ethically and professionally unacceptable and that our
institution should not condone such practice by agreeing to catalog
extracted maps.

What policy do other libraries observe for such situations?

We have noted the prevalence of maps separated (historically) from
atlases and the value of a record for individual maps once this is the
fact of the situation -that is, that we are not doing the breaking and
that an extracted map retains intellectual value even if tainted by the
removal. We are also mindful, of course, of the map theft for sale
issues.

I suppose a corollary question is one of whether gifts of extracted maps
should be declined (and purchases not undertaken).

What can others contribute to this discussion?

Thanks,

Harry Davis

Map Librarian

Liaison Librarian for Civil and Environmental Engineering,

Geography and Environmental Resources, Geology,

Maps, and Mining and Mineral Resources Engineering

Morris Library

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Carbondale, IL 62901-6632

Phone: 618~453~2372

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