Coincidentally, I will be leading a Council session on maps and map retention at the upcoming 2015 Depository Library Council Meeting and Federal Depository Library Conference that addresses many of these issues.  As all Council sessions will be available virtually, I will be sending out an announcement with information on how to register later today.


The University of Georgia is regional depository for federal documents; in recent years we have also been inundated with requests from our selectives to discard maps, particularly USGS topo quads.  Our situation is compounded by the fact that we have also agreed to be an ASERL Center of Excellence<http://www.aserl.org/programs/gov-doc/> for maps, so we regularly hear from selectives throughout the Southeast who are weeding their map collections.  We wound up doing an inventory of our USGS topo maps (all scales) and send our needs lists to libraries who are weeding those maps, which has turned out to be far less labor-intensive on both ends.  The way we handle discards for other maps series (mostly As) varies; usually our selectives list them on regular discard lists, but occasionally we ask them to send just to box up what they have and send rather than list.  Our disposal guidelines ask that our selectives list both current and superseded editions of all maps as we retain all editions of all maps made available through the FDLP, with the exception of nautical charts.


As far as an offers list for maps goes, MAPS-L generally serves that purpose; you can also post offers lists for maps on GOVDOC-L.


Hallie Pritchett
Head, Map and Government Information Library
Map and Federal Regional Depository Librarian
University of Georgia Libraries
Athens, GA 30602
[log in to unmask]
706-542-0664
Map and Government Information Library -
http://www.libs.uga.edu/magil/


________________________________
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Hartley, Melissa <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, October 2, 2015 2:40 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: When did federal maps begin distribution to depository libraries?


Thanks, everyone, your knowledge and helpfulness are greatly appreciated, and this is all very interesting and useful information.



You probably know this already, that vol. 10 (July-Aug 1983) of Government Publications Review is a special issue on maps. Gary W. North’s article, Maps for the Nation: the Current Federal Mapping Establishment, also includes historical information on map programs.  This is where I read the reference to FDLP taking over distribution in the future. The article mentions that depository libraries were being surveyed re: what maps they wanted.



We surmised that before the date whenever FDLP began distributing USGS maps, there were probably fewer numbers of maps distributed to selective FDLP depository libraries.  However, perhaps not.  The reason for wanting a date for when USGS maps were likely to have had wider distribution is that we are trying to define our retention policies in an era of light staffing in this area. As a regional depository for A and I classes in this neck of the woods, we can be inundated with discard requests from selective libraries whenever selective map and SuDoc collections are weeded.  We want to have an informed policy.  Perhaps there is not an easy answer to this.



BTW, is there an offers list specifically for maps?  Both depository and non-depository would be of interest.



Thanks again, and thank you for the warm welcome.  I am an experienced multi-format cataloger and docs person, but fairly new to map cataloging and the history of map publishing.



Melissa





Melissa Hartley

Federal Documents

Center for Digital Scholarship and Services

The Valley Library

Oregon State University

Corvallis, OR  97331-4501



[log in to unmask]

(541) 737-7317







From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nancy Kandoian
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2015 7:15 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: When did federal maps begin distribution to depository libraries?



But does Melissa mean when USGS switched from doing their own distribution to having the distribution go via the FDLP?  I recollect that there was a relatively recent (to my way of thinking) change on this, that might have been around 1984.



Nancy Kandoian


++++++++++++++



Nancy A. Kandoian

Map Cataloger

The Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, Room 117

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

The New York Public Library

5th Avenue and 42nd Street

New York, New York 10018

(212) 930 0586



On Fri, Oct 2, 2015 at 8:16 AM, Ken Grabach <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

Melissa,

Do you by any chance mean 1894?  I don't have immediate access to the book Maps for America (all our copies are in remote storage), but I think it would have been some time before the turn of the 20th century.  I think one of the first series was the 15-minute series, at 1 inch to a mile (1:63,360) and later at 1:62,500.



Ken


Ken Grabach

Maps Librarian

BEST Library, 219D

Miami University Libraries

Oxford, OH  45056  USA



[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

513-529-1726<tel:513-529-1726>



On Thu, Oct 1, 2015 at 7:27 PM, Hartley, Melissa <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

Hello. I am new to maps cataloging and to this list, so please pardon my ignorance of the answer to this question.

Does anyone know when federal maps (USGS in particular) began distribution via FDLP depository libraries?  My research points to sometime around 1984.  Does anyone know if this date is correct?

Thanks,

Melissa Hartley

OSU Libraries and Press
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon 97331-4501

[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
541 737-7317<tel:541%20737-7317>