Thanks everyone! This has been very helpful for pulling my scattered
thoughts together. We have a loose working policy for what is "rare" that
applies to new acquisitions, but I know that some maps that were cataloged
loooong ago and put in the general collection probably deserve special
attention. We're shifting a bunch of things around so I thought this would
be a good time to reorganize the collection.

-Theresa

On Fri, Oct 17, 2014 at 6:31 AM, Cahill, Colleen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Theresa,
>
>   I read the other replies, which were all great and wanted to add one
> thing; some items are considered “rare” if they are one-of-a-kind.  The map
> might not be valuable or fragile or old, but if it is the only one in the
> world, it might end up in the rare map holdings.  This happens for mostly
> manuscript maps, of course.
>
>
>
>   Why you would have a less than valuable or fragile map in a rare area
> would be based on your collection policies.  A map by an important person
> in your institution might be very significant to your holdings, but not so
> much to the rest of the world.
>
>
>
> Colleen
>
>
>
> Colleen R. Cahill
>
> Digital Conversion Coordinator and
>
>     Recommending Officer for Fantasy and Science Fiction
>
> Geography & Map Division
>
> Library of Congress
>
> 101 Independence Ave. SE
>
> Washington, DC 20540-4650
>
> Voice: 202-707-8540
>
> Fax: 202-707-8531
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> These opinions are mine, Mine, MINE!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Maps-L: Discussion Forum for Maps, Air Photo, Map Librarianship,
> GIS, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Theresa Quill
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 16, 2014 2:15 PM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Classification of Rare Maps
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I'm in the middle of revamping what we consider "rare maps" and I was
> wondering if y'all have policies that spell out which maps are "rare". Do
> you do it by date? If so, what is your cutoff? Number of copies in the
> world? Relevance to your institution?
>
> For example, the USGS 15 and 30 minute topos are OLD but not necessarily
> RARE. We also have some newer maps that we hold the only cataloged copy
> for. So maybe there's a hybrid solution? If you do have a policy, would you
> mind sharing it?
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> --
> Theresa Quill
> Map/GIS Coordinator, Herman B Wells Library
> MLS Candidate, School of Library and Information Science
> Indiana University
>



-- 
Theresa Quill
Map/GIS Coordinator, Herman B Wells Library
MLS Candidate, School of Library and Information Science
Indiana University