forwarded from maphist

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:         The Forlani world map and Library and Archives Canada
Date:   Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:52:12 +0100
From:   tony campbell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To:       maps-l
To:



A story with considerable relevance for the way that senior library
management perceives the function and value of the map curator.

This is the from 'Latest News' < http://www.maphistory.info/newslatest.html
>.

Perhaps map curators do still have their value

July 27. <
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060727.wxarchives27/EmailBNStory/Entertainment/home >
'Got to have it! ... Oops, already do. Library and Archives Canada came
embarrassingly close to buying a valuable historic map they already had in
their collection. Shouldn't the information collectors get their information
straight?' (by Val Ross in the Toronto Globe and Mail).
      In May, LAC's cartography section publicly expressed interest in
acquiring an example of the printed Forlani world map of 1562, one of the
first to name 'Canada'. It was coming up for auction in Paris, and expected
to make around $200,000. LAC sought private sponsorship for the purchase,
pulling out shortly before the sale when it was realized they already had
the 1560 state of the map. "The really embarrassing thing is some staff
seemed unaware that the archives also already owned the 1562 version, the
very one that was going up for auction. In fact, this 1562 Forlani was
acquired by the archives in 1981, and exhibited as one of the nation's gems
the very next year. It is also described in a catalogue, Treasures of the
National Map Collection. And both Forlani maps are in LAC's current web
catalogue -- but the LAC's confusing cataloguing system is part of the
problem." Terry Cook, a retired senior manager at the archives, explained
that part of LAC's problems are that it has shifted cultures, from one based
on specialized curators who knew their collections in depth, to a more open,
democratized strategy. 'The new approach is to put more information on the
Web, and to appeal to a vaster audience so ordinary people can research
genealogy or aboriginal rights'." See an earlier posting about this map and
the LAC to MapHist on 21 May 2006 <
http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/pipermail/maphist/2006-May/007448.html >].

Tony Campbell
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