Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2001 15:18:26 -0400
From: Kathleen Weessies <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: RE: Bell & Howell Sanborn's
I bought the maps to Michigan only. It was about $11,900 to purchase
outright, though we also have to pay $500 per year after that for them to
maintain the interface. We could have developed our own interface and not
paid the $500 maintenance. We also could have simply subscribed to the
Michigan maps for $3,000 per year. I thought the one-time purchase was a
better deal. The entire U.S. was $96,760, but that is a special "pre-pub"
price good through the end of 2001. Other states had other prices, for
instance Illinois $16,200 with a $500 annual fee. Minnesota was the bargain
of the Big Ten at $7,350 and a $350 annual fee.
When I asked exactly which years are available for which towns, the salesman
mailed me a photocopy of the pertinent pages from "Fire Insurance Maps in
the Library of Congress" (which I already own).
My feelings about the database are very mixed. I didn't have the fiche, so
this is a new "better than nothing" collection for me. The access mechanism
is VERY awkward, and the images are small .gifs (or equally fuzzy PDFs,
depending on which button you push). I ask my printer to blow each page out
to 11" x 17" to add some visibility, but the product is still less than
ideal. I made a little tutorial for my student workers, but keep in mind
it is tailored specifically to my situation.
Kathleen Weessies
Maps/GIS Librarian
100 Library 308
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1048
517-432-9669
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Johnnie Sutherland [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 2:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Bell & Howell Sanborn's <fwd>
--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2001 09:25:00 -0400
From: David Cobb <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Bell & Howell Sanborn's
Sender: David Cobb <[log in to unmask]>
Colleagues -
Is anyone subscribing to the Bell & Howell Sanborn maps? I suspect these
are not "inexpensive" since I can find no cost information searching the
Bell & Howell site. Does anyone have information on their service and/or
their quality?
David Cobb
***************************************************************************
David A. Cobb Tel. 617.495.2417
Harvard Map Collection FAX 617.496.0440
Harvard College Library Email: [log in to unmask]
Cambridge, MA 02138
HTTP://hcl.harvard.edu/maps
************************** VERITAS ****************************************
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