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The horse is out of the barn Alice.  I loved Tom Neff's statement,
"A whole CD-ROM or optical disk is no more valuable than the original
 map whose image it carries."  This really gets to the nub of scanning
cartographic treasures.  I mean, compare the Red Hot Chili Peppers
latest release for $14.95 and a really good scan of a Jefferson and Frye.
 
Why are we quibbling about file size?
 
Alice, I know this hasn't gotten to your much more significant question of
WHAT to scan.  Is it a question of putting together an exhibit, or a
collection development policy?  Personally I'd rather see excellent scanned
images of maps, which meet all the technical controls, as part of multi-media
publications than simply as maps.  Puts a whole scholarly twist to it, but
I, for one, am ready to be the scholar/librarian for a change.
 
 
Patrick McGlamery