Hello Gov Docs and Maps colleagues,
 
I'm working with the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) through the Minnesota Population Center, which is headquartered at the University of Minnesota, to track down 1980 Census block maps in paper for US metro areas. The NHGIS folks are working on a major project through an NIH grant to produce GIS boundary files for all 1980 and 1970 census blocks, which is accomplished by editing TIGER files produced by the U.S. Census Bureau to match the paper maps. These maps were widely published in microfiche, but the microfiche produces insufficient low quality scans.
 
Unfortunately, these block maps were only distributed via microfiche through the FDLP, and thus paper has proven much harder to track down. As fiche quality deteriorates and with paper being a rarity, getting this data available in a more accessible, long-term format is crucial.
 
We've requested paper maps via ILL that could be found in WorldCat, but are still running into trouble with requests being automatically cancelled because they’re non-circulating. We are hoping to work directly with libraries to get access to these maps in addition to tracking down additional metro areas that may not be cataloged by reaching out to Gov Docs and Maps librarians directly.
 
So far, NHGIS has been able to borrow paper maps for 62 metros, but still needs 262 to complete the project. I have compiled a spreadsheet of all the metros that are still needed. Please reach out to me directly if you have paper copies of any of these 1980 metro area block statistics maps and would be willing to work with us to either lend them for check-out or get them scanned (the home institution scans and shares the file with us or the UMN library scans in-house).
 
This is an important project for increased access to vital Census data, and we would be so appreciative of your assistance in tracking down paper copies of these maps. Thank you so much for your help and please excuse any cross-posting!