Maybe it is easier to ask if *anyone* in mapland isn't moving or planning a move to their collection! Plans churn, but are still subsurface.
Kathleen Weessies
Geosciences Librarian; Head, Map Library
Michigan State University
366 W. Circle Drive, W308A
East Lansing, MI 48824
(517)884-0849
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From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ann Aler
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2017 4:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Moving map collections
This thread is so timely and extremely helpful!
Here at Northwestern, we are currently in late planning stages of moving our entire map collection of approximately 228 cases. I am currently finalizing a numbering system similar to Chris Salvano's. We have not yet met with the movers to discuss whether the cabinets can/will be moved intact, with drawers removed, or with maps removed. I am taking careful note of the pitfalls and recommendations mentioned here.
Also, in 2013 we accepted a donation of approximately 17,000 topographic maps in 16 map cases. We contracted with professional movers. They elected to take the maps out of the drawer and replace the materials post-move. The movers slid the maps out of the drawers, placed separators in between and placed the materials into large wheeled carts. The possibility for error is pretty high with this method but at the time I had little say in the matter.
Ann Aler
Cartographic & GIS Specialist
Northwestern University Libraries
Northwestern University
www.library.northwestern.edu<http://www.library.northwestern.edu/>
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
847.467.3679
Learner l Responsibility l Maximizer l Input l Positivity
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Salvano, Christopher M.
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2017 1:20 PM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Moving map collections
I went through a partial move last month. We had an outside, bonded moving company move about 140 map cabinets across campus.
Moving the cabinets with the drawers saves time IF you have enough people to move a full map cabinet, which can weigh about 700-800 pounds. AND if you can get the cabinets through a doorway.
My moving company kept some cabinets full but had to tip them up to get through doorways. In those cases, I required that they stuff broken-down boxes within each drawer, which generally provided enough pressure/weight to keep the maps from falling back in the drawers (our map drawers have the leather cover inserts which helped). They did have to remove the drawers from some of the cabinets during the move.
Additionally, before the move, I labeled and numbered each map cabinet and drawer to create a map cabinet index using Excel. Yes, that was a time-consuming process but I found it was really necessary in order to keep track of the large number of map drawers being moved, some of which had to be removed from their cabinets, some of which did not. It looked roughly partially like this:
Cabinet No.
Drawer No.
Collection Area
Drawer Label
LCCN Range
01
01
Historical Maps
Los Angeles
...
01
02
Historical Maps
Los Angeles
...
01
03
Historical Maps
Los Angeles
...
01
04
Historical Maps
Los Angeles
...
01
05
Historical Maps
Los Angeles
...
02
01
Gov Docs
California, 1:24,000, A-M
...
02
02
Gov Docs
California, 1:24,000, N-Z
...
so on and so forth
A nice bonus to this process was this index is now really helpful to find materials within our large collection. Using the Excel filter/sort feature I can now see where all our gov docs maps are, or where all California maps are, or what's contained within a certain cabinet number, etc. I'm a library nerd, so I think that's cool.
Hope this helps.
Chris
--
Chris Salvano, MLIS
Map Curator
Department of Geography
California State University, Northridge
818-677-3465
________________________________
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of Fry, Michael <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2017 9:53:59 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Moving map collections
I'm curious if there's a consensus on whether standard 5-drawer map cases can/should be emptied of both maps and drawers before being moved. It seems to me--and I think I've read--that trying to move filled cases is a recipe for disaster. but I've had facilities folks here insist that they have done it that way. Which makes me cringe even though it would, in theory, save a lot of time and prevent the kind of mismatches Rick at BYU described.
Anybody have light-shedding experience to share?
Michael
On Mon, Jun 19, 2017 at 12:13 PM, March, Greg <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Hi Dennis,
We've moved our entire maps collection back in 2007, then again in two stages about five years later. We had too many map cases and too little resources to do the move ourselves, so the first time, we used a professional local moving company. The last two times, we used in-house facilities. Both did a good job, but the professional moving company did a better job since this is what they do for a living. I'd be happy to help answer any moving related question that you have. Just email or give me a call.
Regards,
-Greg
Gregory H. March
Map & Government Information Librarian
Associate Professor
University of Tennessee
152 Hodges Library
Knoxville, TN 37996
865-974-3878<tel:(865)%20974-3878>
Research Guides - Anthropology<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__libguides.utk.edu_anthropology&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=Qy8bMJG6i71vi_yMgEVorsOKa6DHZipGFPsO9hVlFF0&m=QfTqBqgMCJ9xeJ-L7rEskhYsBLss76Fi77HxTcWlbqw&s=yhVj9DNmBa_TzzjUs-us1Lmc3gaC-2LzRBkNC1BGcSs&e=>, Earth & Planetary Sciences<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__libguides.utk.edu_subject_eps&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=Qy8bMJG6i71vi_yMgEVorsOKa6DHZipGFPsO9hVlFF0&m=QfTqBqgMCJ9xeJ-L7rEskhYsBLss76Fi77HxTcWlbqw&s=CKPEn-VgmVa7xXR1GcWC7rOkhovS9kdGApT2LWsWcTA&e=>, Geography<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__libguides.utk.edu_geography&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=Qy8bMJG6i71vi_yMgEVorsOKa6DHZipGFPsO9hVlFF0&m=QfTqBqgMCJ9xeJ-L7rEskhYsBLss76Fi77HxTcWlbqw&s=sRa39oPu8K422EkSu3eMvjOZm8YErJUkU7azKy9iGKE&e=>, Maps<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__libguides.utk.edu_map&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=Qy8bMJG6i71vi_yMgEVorsOKa6DHZipGFPsO9hVlFF0&m=QfTqBqgMCJ9xeJ-L7rEskhYsBLss76Fi77HxTcWlbqw&s=QFlWmLHUyP_uh6baM7P0nRshRfaGpZgqNDghUG92b7o&e=>, Government<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__libguides.utk.edu_sb.php-3Fsubject-5Fid-3D39793&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=Qy8bMJG6i71vi_yMgEVorsOKa6DHZipGFPsO9hVlFF0&m=QfTqBqgMCJ9xeJ-L7rEskhYsBLss76Fi77HxTcWlbqw&s=9V28D2_eVTWQqZJ4X-VIi5iuIS11PpyAd0YW8b1bxfY&e=>
Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__libguides.utk.edu_TNCOGN&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=Qy8bMJG6i71vi_yMgEVorsOKa6DHZipGFPsO9hVlFF0&m=QfTqBqgMCJ9xeJ-L7rEskhYsBLss76Fi77HxTcWlbqw&s=oHM6XwEh6cLdEV7zZL4bTmDStBAlylC6VdwpVyzPwJU&e=>
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On Behalf Of Rick Grapes
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2017 11:49 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Moving map collections
Dennis G. Matthews, et. al.
We here at BYU moved our whole collection between floors about 18 years ago, and again partially last year. We did it ourselves, in house, both times. No matter if you do the move yourselves, or have professionals do the lifting for you, there's one issue you'll have to keep in mind.
You cannot mix up the various drawers from their accompanying map cases.
In our "case", because of elevator size, we had to disassemble everything, transporting the contents, drawers, and outer shells separately. We had room to move the contents of 2 cases per trip, followed by 10 drawers, and then the 2 boxes. Resulting in 9 trips to assemble 2 stacks, 3 cases high. The problem arose when we lost track of which drawers went into which of the boxes. The map cases and their drawers are set in the factory to work specifically together. If we mixed them up, the drawers would slid into the case too far, drop in the back, and lock shut. Another issue is, during manhandling and transport, sometimes the little rubber bumpers on the back of the drawers would drop off. Before we realized what had happened, custodial vacuumed them up. Which again, resulted in the drawers locking shut. So once in your new location, test the drawers before you fill them. If the drawers do lock shut, have someone thin and young enough, Not Me, crawl under the drawer, and in back push up and out. You can also lean thru from above, and grab the back of the drawer, up and out. But leverage can be an issue. If the drawers continue to lock shut, take a vice grip and at both back corners of the drawer, gently bend the metal tabs outward. Just a centimeter or so. This may result in the front 5 drawers looking uneven, but the alternative is...
Sorry for rambling. Hope this helps.
Rick Grapes
BYU Map Cataloger
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dennis Matthews
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2017 1:54 PM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Moving map collections
Hi all,
We are moving our map collection to a different floor in our library and we're considering hiring a professional moving firm to relocate the collection. If anyone has done this I'd like to know the name of the firm, what was the experience like, would they recommend, etc.
Thanks,
Dennis
Dennis G. Matthews
Library & Archives Paraprofessional 6
Western Washington University
Western Libraries
516 High Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Telephone: 360.650.3098<tel:(360)%20650-3098> (Collection Services--Cataloging Dept.)
360.650.3272<tel:(360)%20650-3272> (Map Collection)
Fax: 360.650.3044<tel:(360)%20650-3044>
--
Michael Fry
Collections Manager | Map Library Manager
National Geographic Society Library
202.807.3139
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