----------------------------Original message----------------------------
To:  Maps-L folk
 
Guess it is time to provide a bit more information about the
Huxley Map Library at Western Washington University and throw in
my two cents regarding the request by Karen Rice for estimates of
MARC cataloging the collection.
 
Please note:  as Karen indicated, we are merely seeking
information and considering what is involved in MARC cataloging
of the Huxley Map Library.
 
1)   The Map Library at WWU has always been separate from the
     Main Library.  Like many other map collections it began in a
     Geography Department, but it remains one of a handful of
     major collections in the U.S. and Canada still part of an
     academic unit.  (And of course, there are many advantages as
     well as disadvantages of remaining so).
 
2)   As the Map Librarian for the last 20 years, I have been
     responsible for ALL aspects of running the Map Library.  In
     spite of building a collection from 115,000 map sheets in
     1976 to 225,000 map sheets in 1996, my acquisitions budget
     has remained approximately $1,200 a year and I have had no
     staff support (other than work-study students who I dearly
     appreciate).  Thanks to Karen Rice, Head of Cataloging in
     our Main Library, I now have online access to OCLC for the
     first time.  With Karen's help, we hope to bring this
     collection into MARC cataloging and I am excited about the
     opportunity to do so.
 
In response to the recent email from Karen (forwarded to Maps-L
by Alberta Wood dated May 19), and considering the amount of
comments, additional clarification of the numbers might be
useful.
 
A portion of the May 19 email is quoted below:
 
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     "The collection we hope to catalog consists of a lot of
     maps.  Here is the information that I have so far:
 
          25,000 aerial photographs
          55 globes
          45,000 single sheets (a variety of geographic areas and
               subjects)
          150 series consisting of about 180,000 single sheets
          140,000 single sheets--US depository materials
          110,000 single sheets--USGS
          25,000 sheets--Canadian topographical
          1500 aeronautical charts
          3500 nautical charts
 
     I hope that many of the single sheets are in series that
     don't need to be analyzed, but don't have that information
     now, except for the 150 series mentioned.  Let's assume that
     the single sheets must be cataloged separately."
 
=================================================================
 
Comments on Maps-L have addressed significantly more items than
we have.
 
Karen's numbers were extracted from several sections of a
proposal that I prepared last fall.
 
Here are the real totals (excluding globes, aerial photography
atlases, monographs, raised relief models, etc. --all to be taken
care of separately)
 
 
Here is how they break down:
 
225,000 total maps
     45,000 single sheets (part of the main collection)
 
     180,000 sheets in series
        40,000 sheets (series including the AMS, GSGS, IMW
          series and others housed in the main collection)
 
        140,000 sheets--consist of depository materials (stored
          separately from main collection)
               110,000 sheets--U.S.G.S. topographical
               25,000 sheets--Canadian topographical
               1500 aeronautical charts
               3500 nautical charts
 
 
With appreciation for your comments and thoughts,
 
Janet Collins, Map Librarian
Huxley Map Library
Western Washington University
 
 
P.S. In a proposal submitted last fall to our new university
     librarian, my estimate for cataloging ONLY our main
     collection single sheets --45,000 --(classed under the "G"
     Schedule and separate from depository holdings) was eight
     years.  I'm still holding to that and suspect it to be
     optimistic.  Certainly this figure does not address the need
     for cataloging of ongoing acquisitions.