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MAPS-L *** MAPS-L ***** MAPS-L
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Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 16:55:52 -0700
From: Julie Sweetkind-Singer <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: USGS in remote storage and updates
To: Maps-L <[log in to unmask]>

Hi all,

If you don't have USGS topo maps in remote storage, read no further unless
you're a glutton for punishment!

We are preparing to move a large portion (1/3) of our map collection to
offsite storage about 50 miles away.  The first group of items we'll send
are our 7.5 minute USGS topographic maps for all states east of the
Mississippi River.  In the catalog, we have one cataloging record per state
with an attached item record for each map.  Each map has a barcode.  The
maps are distinguished in the catalog by the name of the quad and then the
date (Call number |z Kettlemans 1993).  When we swap out the superceded
maps, we change the date and replace the barcode on the same item record
with a new barcode number, rather than withdrawing the item record and
adding a new one.  It's faster and keeps the record cleaner.

With the move to the new storage facility, each map is "assigned" a
specific location, which is inside a specific folder that sits inside a
specific drawer in a map case.  The facility's tracking system was not
designed to have things permanently withdrawn.  When something is
permanently withdrawn, the physical space it occupied will stay vacant
forever.  So, for us, if we page a topo map that has been superceded and
replace the barcode with a new one, it will get a new location.  This is
not what we want.  What we have proposed to the powers that be is that,
when asked, the storage personnel send us the superceded maps and a set of
duplicate barcodes, which they can do.  We would then edit the existing
item record by changing the date and putting the duplicate barcode on the
new map and then send it back to storage.  It would go in its previous
location.   Needless to say, we would have to double check the work to make
sure it was done correctly.  It may also go without saying that some of the
folks in technical services are not head over heels about this solution.

How are others dealing with this problem?  I will also note that we do not
keep superceded versions of topos for any states except CA and NV, nor do
we want to start.  Second, we are not allowed to go to the storage facility
ourselves and handle the maps.  They must be paged back to the library.

Thanks for any help you can provide.  Feel free to contact me directly
rather than to the list.

Julie

Julie Sweetkind-Singer
Head Librarian; GIS & Map Librarian
Branner Earth Sciences Library & Map Collections
397 Panama Mall, M/C 2211
Stanford University
Stanford, CA  94305
[log in to unmask]
Phone:  650-725-1102




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