--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 08:13:42 -0700 (MST)
From: Thiry <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: M & M Dept. <fwd>
Sender: Thiry <[log in to unmask]>


On Mon, 13 Nov 2000, Johnnie Sutherland wrote:

> --- Begin Forwarded Message ---
> Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 07:24:02 -0500
> From: minton <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: M & M Dept. <fwd>
> Sender: minton <[log in to unmask]>
>
> Having maps out in "open stacks" is a STUPID, ridiculous idea made by
"people"
> who have not-a-clue of how to manage a map library.  If you want to get
> an idea of what may happen, take a look at any of the oversize areas in
> most library
> stacks. Care and concern for these materials is woefully lacking and the same
> will occur with maps.
>
> Jim Minton

Jim,

I take a bit offense here.  My stacks are open.  The Map Room isn't a room
at all, but a part of the building.  The cases are never locked; the
maps are available all the time the building is open.  The Map Room is not
an isolated part of the library, thus the security is good.

Yes, our maps get beat up.  But, they get used.  Our circulation
statistics are quite high.  People love the Map Room precisely because
they can help themselves.  Yes, maps do get stolen, but so do books
throughout the Library.  Maps got stolen at New York Public Library where
we had closed stacks and security guards checking bags.  I want our maps
to be used.  This is not a collection of "record", like NYPL or LC, but a
working collection.

The good condition of the collection owes itself to the fact that my
office is centrally located in the Map Room.  I am in my office most of
the time, and therefore can spot trouble (e.g. patrons who don't know
where to look and thus start pawing through all the drawers).  We clear
the unfiled maps from the tops of map cases
every morning so the place looks neat and clean.  We ask people not to
file their maps.  We have made a
concerted effort to acquire map cases so as to alleviate crowding (this
help keep the maps in better shape).  We look after the collection quite
closely.  Valuable and/or
history items are in my office.  Any items that are neither but are at
high risk (such as the Delorme atlases of Colorado, Wyoming, and
Utah, and Trails Illustrated maps) are
kept at the Circulation Desk, but they still circulate like normal.

If one were to place a map collection off in a dusty corner where staff
would rarely visit, then I would have concerns about a collection's
security and condition.

--Christopher JJ Thiry
Map Librarian
Colorado School of Mines
1400 Illinois
PO Box 4029
Golden, CO 80401-0029

voice:  303-273-3697
fax:    303-273-3199

[log in to unmask]
http://www.mines.edu/library/maproom/
http://www.mines.edu/fs_home/cthiry/

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