--- Begin Forwarded Message --- Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 11:30:26 -0500 From: minton <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: M & M Dept. Sender: minton <[log in to unmask]> MAPS-L: Johnnie. WOW! No, you didn't say enough. You have hit upon the REAL problem(s). And Thiry, read my follow-up message - it says the same thing you do. Jaime (Mexican name for Jim Minton) to distinguish from other Jims Johnnie Sutherland wrote: > The problems I have seen with destroying map collections are many > and very current. There is a trend in the U.S. academic libraries to > take their map collection departments and move them into other > departments. The reason given varies from institution, but really > the move is used to shift personnel from a format with little support > to what ever is the latest fad among the library's administrators. > In many places the move is to consolidate a Government Documents > and a Map Department. This is a way to reduce two, currently 'dead' > departments, and shift the staff resources. It does make sense on the > surface because most of the academic Map Collections have received the > bulk of their holdings from the GPO Depository program. In many > of those libraries that have removed their Government Document > departments the Map Collection has gone to Reference. > When the Map Collection is reduced the lack of support and > supervision produces the following problems. > 1. Unless the Map Collection is its own entity with full-time > professionals in charge, it will not receive the Library support needed > to maintain the collection and direct its growth. The Map Collection > will become a dead collection, that slowly is pushed into a corner to > rot. Holes will not be filled, opportunities to build the holdings > will be missed, and it will become less and less useful to the > researcher. Then one day it will be used as horse fodder in the > University stables. > 2. Maintance of the collection can suffer greatly. I have seen map > collections, two in major University Libraries where the holdings were > supervised by another department, in terrible shape, maps on the floor, > maps stuffed in drawers any which way, in utter chaos. In two other, > similar situations, I have seen the picture of neatness. Everything > is in cases, and the cases shining. When you look closer at the > collections in all four of these places you find similar problems. > Maps are not maintained in correct order in the drawers, either through > neglect, or the support staff's lack of understanding of maps and map > librarianship. The maps are being beat to death. > 3. Theft. Theft. Theft. I have not seen any of these unsupported > and unsupervised collections that did not have major theft and damage > problems. In most cases the staff and library did not know they had > the problem, mainly because they had no one who knew the collection. > Why check out the map or air photo, if that is possible, when a few > quick folds and you have the thing. Wouldn't mom and pop love to have > an air photo of the home place. They will never miss one photo out of > 100,000, and beside it is not marked. > 4. Reference. I have not met a reference librarian who did not think > they could provide better reference service through their general > reference desk, than could any small specialized department. In this > era of computer, internet reference service, the specialized reference > service is in a bad position in most academic libraries. As the > reference departments have thrown out their own in-depth reference > services, and replaced them with broad but shallow connection and > instructional services to the undergraduate and for the graduate > students and professors a deeper but limited connection services plus > an BI attempt to instruct the professorate on how they can teach > research, they see little reason why users of a map collection should > have in-depth reference service. The result of the removal of the > full-time map collection staff is a major decline in service, which the > new department will not recognize because they are not on site to see > the problems. Once the Map Collection becomes the map area, even if it > is for part of the day, service declines greatly. The service needed > by map formats users requires specialized service by staff trained in > that service. A majority of people using a map collection have to have > trained staff to assist them if they are to get the material they need. > A general reference staff can not, in most cases, properly interpret > the question, let along know the holdings well enough to provide the > best answer. > > There are other problems then the four above that others may want > to discuss. Yes, I am being very strong on this subject. Some of the > above problems may not occur everywhere over the short term, but > they will occur. With the decline of the GPO Depository program, the > decline in the number of printed maps, and the major changes in library > services, map collections are in big trouble. We use up staff and > space and serve too few patrons. > > John Sutherland > Map Collection > University of Georgia --- End Forwarded Message ---