----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Thank you for the update.  It is "good" to finally know what is happening
to the Arizona Map Library.  We have also been worried about its future,
which doesn't at all sound feasible, even as an experiment.
 
In over 28 years in Map Librarianship, I have heard of no other
arrangement like yours.  The professor from the Geography Department ought
to conduct an experiment, perhaps with the assistance of Charly Seavey's
students, to survey the quality of reference assistance rendered under
this new "experiment."
 
Stan Stevens
 
 
On Thu, 7 Oct 1993, Charlene Baldwin wrote:
 
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>
> As most of you are aware, the University of Arizona Map Collection
> is no longer a separate department within the Library.
> I am writing to ask a question, and by that question give you a
> bit of an update on the status of the Map Collection here.
>
> The question:  does anyone know of an existing map reference
> collection which has been disseminated throughout a library?
> This is the plan as it stands now.  Beginning now, and
> continuing through "transition" (the Fall Semester, possibly) all
> services in the Map Collection will be assigned to other teams.
> For example:
>
> 1.  There will eventually be no circulation desk here in the Map
> Collection.  Map circulating items will be carried by the user to
> a central desk on this floor.  We have 4 trained students
> assistants in this "department" at this time and we hope that they
> will be  retained by the Materials Access Team (Loan) to assist at
> that  central desk, but it also will be serving the former Media
> Center/Film collection, and the former Newspaper and Microforms
> Room.
>
> 2. There will eventually be no reference service in the Map
> Collection.  There will be some basic "Type One" reference at that
> central circulation desk I mentioned, mainly the directional and
> known item variety of questions.  All "Type Two" questions
> regarding ALL materials in the Main Library will be handled at one
> set of desks in Main Reference (formerly Central Reference),  on
> the second floor. That desk will primarily be staffed by high level
> career staff and some librarians as needed.  "Type Three", or
> "extended or in-depth reference questions" will be handled by
> librarian/specialists by appointment with a user.
>
> Since there will be no reference service in the Map Collection,
> the Transition Planning Team has established a "mission team" to
> decide what to do with the "Map Reference" materials.  "Map
> reference" is the computer/cataloging designation for any
> non-circulating items in our collection, and consists mainly of
> atlases, gazetteers, serials, and other cartographic formats such
> as globes, CD-ROMs, etc.
>
> The task ahead of the mission team is to decide, by Dec. 1, title
> by title, the future location of all materials in the Map
> Reference area.  At this time choices are:  (1) if it is strictly
> a finding aid, it might stay here with the open case sheet map
> collection (like an index map); (2) if it is an atlas, book, or
> carto-bibliography, it might go to the open main or science stacks
> (circulating or non-circulating); (3) if it is "truly" a reference
> work that "Type Two" people could use easily, or that users could
> use independently, it might go to Main Reference, although the team
> has been asked to keep that group of things small.  We have also
> asked the team to consider Special Collections (which also is no
> longer a "department", but part of a larger team), as a site
> because at least the collections would be controlled and paged by
> student assistants.  I think that we have assurances that special
> collections is an option, but that also has its drawbacks because
> of restricted access, shorter hours, and lack of proximity to other
> cartographic materials.
>
> Academic departments here are starting to get worried, and a
> Geography Dept. faculty member asked me yesterday if this has  ever
> been done before.  I didn't know.  I know that Map
> Collections often suffer the consequences of "reorganization" by
> reporting to various other departments, but does anyone know of  an
> instance where a collection has been broken apart?  Remember  we
> are talking about almost 5000 titles in our "Map Reference"  area,
> some antiquarian, collected over almost 40 years as a Map
> Collection.
>
> Write the list or write me directly at [log in to unmask]
> Thank you.
> Charlene Baldwin