If you want the maps in storage to be usable when they're requested, I kind of suspect on the basis of experience that putting them in tubes for a long time is not the way to go.

Examples of what happens: The older census maps that our Reference Department had stored in tubes for several years required weeks of flattening before they could be used.  Maps from India that apparently spend many months in tubes on their way to the Library are unusable until they've been rolled backwards for a couple of weeks. And the large, gorgeous satellite images that we got as a gift a couple of years ago, which had been kept rolled up in tubes for a decade and more, rip every time you try to flatten them.

Hope this is useful advice.

Chris Winters
University of Chicago Library

________________________________________
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Traichel, Rudi [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2015 5:57 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Help with storing map sheets in rolls

Good afternoon everyone,

I am strongly  exploring the possibility of storing a large portion of some of our now inventoried map collection in storage that will be transferred later this summer to our soon to be completed High Density storage facility on campus.

In lieu of having a sufficient number of our old map cabinets that can fit into module one of our facility, I am considering putting some of our less used and sizeable topographical series in square, round, or triangular tubes. I am gravitating towards the triangular tubes.

I have found some information online from the Northeast Document Storage Center Preservation leaflet 4.9 https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/preservation-leaflets/4.-storage-and-handling/4.9-storage-solutions-for-oversized-paper-artifacts and some texts that discuss map preservation.

I am exploring options. Odds are that we will not be able to afford the cost of purchasing a large number of archival (acid free) containers, so I may have to consider stock boxes. The acidic nature of the sheets and the boxes are a question, but the outside sheets can be wrapped with some archival material to protect against the boxes themselves. It is not a done deal, there may be other possiblities.

Is it absolutely necessary to roll these maps around a core tube before storing them in a container?

Any advice or information from shared experiences in using tubes would be most welcome.

Best regards, and thank you, again, in advance,

Rudi


Rudolf Traichel
Collections Management and Projects (ASRS & PARC) Librarian
UBC CTS – Cataloguing – Floor 3 – Woodward Library
-- 2198 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3 CANADA

CTS Tel:(604)<tel:(604)> 822-3083 ; Map inventory (604) 822-7257; Fax: (604) 822-3201