3 messages----------------Johnnie
 
 
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>Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 16:57:15 -0400
>From: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: RE: Should a map room be secure?
 
 
   Locked and secure is the answer unless there is a map person on duty at all
times.  Maybe, just maybe, you might be able to rope off a section when there
is no map person available and have valuable materials you don't want used
without supervision in locked cases and cabinets while having your general
modern atlases and such outside the roped off area.  Best go for a completely
secure area if you can.
 
                              J. B. Post
 
 
 
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>Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 10:00:28 -0700 (PDT)
>From: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Should a map room be secure?
 
 
The factors in favor of keeping your map room secure are so overwhelming
that it seems the real issue is perhaps making that secure space as
functional, attractive and aesthetically pleasing as possible - as
befitting the collection itself. Only the most forbidding structure would
be construed as a 'prison' for books and maps; patrons expect some degree
of security if the collection is particularly valuable. I think the
notion of preservation would come to mind before security. Our map room
is not vast, but it has an openness which is apparent at first sight. It
is also lockable, and that strikes everyone as just plain sensible.
Best Wishes,
 
Brian P. Bach
Map Specialist, Central Washington University
 
On Wed, 30 Jul 1997, Joyce A. Ryerson wrote:
 
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> A new addition will be added to our library.  The map room will be moving into
> the new addition.  We are in the design phase of the interior spaces.   The
> discussion now is whether the map room should have walls and be a secure area
> that could be closed as it is now or totally open.  I will be sharing the
> second floor with our multimedia section.  We have never allowed people to use
> the room without assistance or get into the map cases.  We also have several
> cases with pre-1900 maps dating back to the 1600's.  Our pre-1900 atlases will
> become part of the room too.  Right now they are in a locked room.  I would be
> very interested in your thoughts on the advantages or disadvantages of walls or
> no walls.  I will summarize the results for the list.  We now close at 4:30.
> In the new addition we will be open until 12:30 at night with students in
> charge.
>
> [log in to unmask]
> Baker Lib rary
> Dartmouth College
> Hanover, NH
>
 
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>From:  [log in to unmask]
>Date: July 31, 1997
>Subject:  Re: Should a map room be secure?
 
 
     A map room should be secure for many reasons, such as(many more not
listed):
   There is damage to the holdings (and associated loss of the misfiled maps).
The worst map rooms I have seen in the last 20 years of visiting map rooms
around the country have been those that were not secure at the time of my
visit.  In the two worst cases maps were strewn from partly open drawers
across tables and floors.  Maps were stuffed into drawers.  Maps were marked
on.  The damage was considerable.  The file order in the drawers had been
lost.  Many maps had walked.  When I took over at Georgia the map room had just
been moved to a secure room.  Against the advice of the previous map librarian
the old map room for several years was not secure nights and weekends.
Becsuse of that lack of security many of the older air photos of Georgia towns
were missing.  There were considerable holes in the holdings of older Georgia
USGS materials and in the USGS geological series.  Most of these items were
lost because of the lack of security. Because close attention was paid to
maintance of the collection during the day, physical damage was limited.  But
the holdings had considerable damage due to accidental and deliberate theft.
 
Johnnie D. Sutherland
University of Georgia