--- Begin Forwarded Message --- Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 12:37:42 -0000 From: Francis Herbert <[log in to unmask]> Subject: RGS-IBG collections accessible to all for a fee Sender: Francis Herbert <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: Francis Herbert <[log in to unmask]> Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]> The Bad News: - Since 1854 the Royal Geographical Society has tried to maintain a map collection which, dependent upon a government annual grant, could also be made freely available for consultation by the general public. The present government department (that for Culture, Media and Sport) has terminated this grant. Consequently this Society, which receives no other government funding, will have to both institute an appointments system and to make a daily access charge to non-members. The Good News: The daily charge will cover not only a continued public access to the Map Room (cartographic materials from the fifteenth century to the present, carto-bibliographies, gazetteers, directories to (re)sources, RGS-sponsored expedition reports [NB: these are unpublished and hence not available in the copyright libraries], large-format A0 photocopier, etc.) but also access to all the Society's other collections : Library (books, guide-books, sailing directions, and periodicals - including cartography as a subject), Picture Library (sketches, water-colours, photographs, prints), Archives (correspondence, submissions for publication in the Society's journals, manuscript diaries, membership records), and Museum (artefacts). Prior appointment with the department most likely to hold the most amount of relevant research material is essential. This new system will take effect from Monday 28 February 2000. Please visit our website for more information on the Collections : http://www.rgs.org Francis Herbert (Curator of Maps, RGS-IBG) [log in to unmask] --- End Forwarded Message ---