----------------------------Original message----------------------------
TO: Cartographic Information Specialists
 
The following statement, prepared by the representatives of the
Congress of Cartographic Information Specialists Associations
(CCISA) and endorsed by their respective organizations, was
recently sent to the directors of ARL and CARL libraries in the
United States and Canada.  It is expected that further
distribution and publication of this document will be taking
place in the near future.  The member organizations in the CCISA
are as follows:
 
     American Congress on Surveying and Mapping
     Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives
     Committee of Southeast Map Librarians (AAG)
     Geography & Map Division, Special Libraries Association
     International Society of Curators of Early Maps
     Map and Geography Round Table, American Library Association
     Map Online Users' Group
     North American Cartographic Information Society
     Northeast Map Organization
     Western Association of Map Libraries
 
Chris Baruth,
CCISA Coordinator
 
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             THE STATE OF MAP LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES
                          April 20, 1994
 
We, the participating organizations of the Congress of
Cartographic Information Specialists Associations, would like to
take this opportunity to provide you with an evaluation of the
state of map libraries and archives and to make recommendations
based on our professional assessment of the situation.  We feel
that these are areas of importance for the continued success of
map and spatial information collections.
 
 
Geographic Illiteracy
 
There are a number of problems that are compounded by issues
surrounding geographic and spatial information in our society.
The fact that we seem to be nations of geographic illiterates has
been a topic of keen interest.  Though a recent initiative on
geographic and map literacy is making its way into the curricula
of elementary and secondary schools, cartographic information
specialists, for the foreseeable future, will be required to deal
with society's shortcomings in geographic and cartographic
education and understanding.  This will continue to require a
level of service in the map library or archives considerably
higher than that provided in more generalized library settings.
 
 
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
 
The computer has changed not only the way we make maps, but the
way we use maps and geographic information.  The Geographic
Information System (GIS) is a rapidly developing technology which
allows the literate spatial information user almost instantaneous
access to cartographic representations of statistical and
numerical data.  These systems can provide the user with the
ability to assemble disparate sources -- demographic,
epidemiologic, hydrologic, transportation, etc., so as to effect
spatial analysis in ways that were inconceivable even a decade
ago.  The implementation and maintenance of this technology
places great demands on both the map library or archive and the
cartographic information specialist who must prepare to meet the
present and future electronic information needs of users at all
levels of sophistication.
 
 
Environmental Science as a Growth Industry
 
It is clear that the use of spatial information is growing in the
government as well as in the private sector.  The rate of growth
will increase in the next decade.  GIS software developers are
experiencing a market surge, as are GIS consultants.
Environmental science industries are being predicted as the
growth industries of the decade. Governmental support of
networking and concern over environmental problems seems to be a
priority of the present U.S. federal administration.
 
Technology Transfer
 
As with traditional forms of cartographic information, the
cartographic information specialist must remain ultimately
responsible for the electronic spatial information as it is
acquired, cataloged and made accessible in libraries and
archives.  This technology transfer demands education and
training, hardware and software, and innovations in cataloging,
classification and storage.  In order to achieve the transfer
adequately and to meet the needs of library and archives users,
significant new resources will be required.
 
 
 
Recommendations
 
The Congress of Cartographic Information Specialists Associations
recommends to libraries and archives:
 
1. That vacant and vacated positions in cartographic materials
collections be filled with competent library and archives
professionals with education in geography, cartography or related
areas of study, in addition to the library or archival training,
and relevant experience in map libraries or archives.
 
2. That cartographic material collections be staffed at levels
appropriate to the clients' research use.
 
3. That the demands of the technology transfer from paper to
electronic formats be recognized and that adequate resources be
provided for training, hardware, and software.
 
4. That strategies that make better use of technology for the map
format such as networks, shared data, large format copying, and
digitizing be supported.