I do not foresee at this point withdrawing any
topographic maps we had received in printed form. Â However, my
experience somewhat mirrors that of Jon Jaboloski at UC Santa
Barbara. Â The bulk of the topographic collection is offsite. Â In
our case, the library where they are housed moved to a new
public service location, Â I moved the maps of the states
covering our region, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Â I left the
remaining states at the previous location. Â I have had very few
requests for the remaining 47 states since we moved. Â Those that
moved are available for self-service browsing. Â The Ohio items
get some usage.
Another impact on my own efforts is in scanning of printed
maps. I had, a couple of years before the topographic database
was complete, arranged two scanning projects. Â The 7.5-min.
maps of the general area, SW Ohio (Cincinnati and Dayton
included), and nearby parts of Indiana and Kentucky, were
scanned. Â The other project was to scan our collection of
15-min. Ohio maps, which turned out to be complete but for two
quadrangles, although some are in poor condition. Â The
historical maps provided by USGS make these projects no longer
as necessary as they seemed a few years ago.
I foresee a point where it might be feasible to give up the
printed maps other than those of regional interest, or areas
of known research interests (e.g., coverage for areas of
interest for a Rocky Mountains research station the Geology
Dept. maintains). Â But I don't think that point has come, yet.
 Plotting is available as needed for printing digital files.
 But why print something, or purchase a plot, when a
lithographed copy is already available?
Ken Grabach
Maps Librarian
Miami University Libraries
Oxford, OH Â 45056 Â USA