-------- Original Message --------
Subject: barcoding maps
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2003 10:46:37 -0500
From: "nkandoian" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]

------------------
Greetings and Happy New Year, Maps-L readers!

Below are some comments about barcoding maps that I found after
searching
the archives of Maps-L from 1995 to the present.  Does anyone have
comments
to add that would help other map collections (e.g. NYPL Map Division)
planning to implement barcoding?  Can anyone recommend a citation to a
basic study or primer on barcoding library materials that has some
application to maps?  Those of you who have had barcoding going on in
your
collections for a few years now, what do you have to report on wear and
tear of the map area where the barcode is placed, especially when the
paper
of the map is significantly less durable than the barcode sticker?  And
what about adhesive migration over time?

   re conservation issues, in 1995, a university map librarian expressed
   concern about the acidity of barcodes at her institution.  The only
   relatively neutral ones known by her to be available at that time
   (Intermec Duratran II) were found to not be durable enough.  There
was
   no further comment on her message.
   re remote storage and retrospective barcoding, in 1997, a map
librarian
   preparing segments of his university map collection for remote
storage
   decided to barcode folders of maps, rather than individual maps.
   re barcode placement, in 2000, a university map librarian explained
that
   there was a change in her collection from barcoding on the verso of a
   map (non-printed side in many cases) to barcoding on the recto.  She
   found the recto preferable, for easy spotting, but acknowledged that
   their circulation people had to be prepared to look on both sides of
the
   maps because of the former policy applied to the earlier batch of
   materials that were barcoded.
   re what is barcoded when, in 2002, a map librarian in a Canadian
   government agency collection indicated that all new Canadian and
   American sheet maps are barcoded on receipt, whereas other maps are
   barcoded only when checked out.
   re conservation issues, in 2002, a university map librarian working
with
   aerial photos noted problems with adhesive migration out from behind
   barcode labels, causing photos to stick together.  Her plan to deal
with
   that was to put photos in sleeves and barcode the sleeves.  I did not
   find any further comment on her message.
   re barcode placement and the tendency of barcodes on sheet maps to
make
   a stack of maps too thick in a drawer that would otherwise be able to
   comfortably hold a certain sized stack of maps, in 2002, a university
   map librarian answered an inquiry by saying that "the thickness of
   barcodes is a non-issue.  They are MUCH thinner than they were five
   years ago.  You do not really have to worry about staggering their
   placement unless all the maps in a particular drawer are all the same
   dimensions."
   re barcode placement on batches of maps of uniform size (e.g. USGS
topo
   quads), in 2002, a university map librarian commented that "we place
   them on each sheet in a chosen area with a simple variance of a few
   inches N or S, in a preferred corner of the bottom periphery of each
map
   ... sort of controlled randomness ... "

If I've missed something from the archives that you remember, please let
me/us know.  Additional thoughts/comments/experiences shared will be
much
appreciated.

Nancy Kandoian
Map Division
New York Public Library