Megan,

1. Whatever feels comfortable to carry on one arm, and lift into/out of the drawer.  It depends on the size and paper type of the map. I just put an arm under the folder and try o lift it., and if it feels too heavy, then decant half the maps into a second folder.
2. n/a see above
3.  We use flat cabinets only. Hanging maps can cause them to buckle or tear.
4. Again it depends on map size, paper type and  on what is in the drawer.  1-5 drawer-sized folders works best. Where we use half-drawer sized folders, then double that.  I try to keep any particular series or theme of maps together in a folder, but where there are few sheets in several consecutive themse/series, then put them all in a single folder. This simplifies drawer labelling if I can say:
   Series X, sheets 1-100; or 
  Europe physical, bio & human geography; or 
  Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu.

And we tend to leave space in drawers containing incomplete or open series for extra sheets to be acquired. The only chockers drawers are where we have a large, closed/complete series, particularly where it's been digitised.

Brendan Whyte
National Library of Australia


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Date:    Tue, 29 Aug 2017 13:17:56 +0000
From:    Megan MacCall <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Best Practices: Map Storage

Good morning collective wisdom,

I'd like to get an idea of how other institutions store their map materials. Specifically:


1.       According to best practices, what is the maximum number of items (ex: sheet maps or encapsulated aerial photos) per folder?

2.       Do you find that you store more or less in each folder than what's best practice? If so, what is that number?

3.       Does the number of items per folder vary based on whether they're stored in lateral flat file cabinets or vertical cabinets (like these: https://ulrichplanfiling.com/shop/planfile-2-blueprint-cabinet/).


4.       About how many folders do you store per flat file drawer and/or vertical cabinet?

Thanks so much for your help!
Megan

Megan E. MacCall
Curator|Map Collection
Free Library of Philadelphia