----------------------------Original message---------------------------- This is a topic I was about to send off a request to MAPS-L about anyway! Users' questions most often focus on a given area - that is, they don't say, "I need to see all of Morocco at 1:50,000," but instead, "I need to see a map of the area around Casablanca." So it seems that if we are to focus on the user, we need to have access at the sheet level. When I was at the Colorado School of Mines (1978-88), I cataloged separated every new USGS folded map, and retrospectively all of Colorado; we also cataloged all of the USGS Professional Papers. It led to a startling increase in use (checkout and inhouse), I suspect mainly because the online catalog has keyword searching. At the library where I currently work, we've purchased the MARCIVE tapes (back to 1976); and we did purchase not just the series records but also all the individual sheet records, for the reason given in the previous paragraph. The map records were loaded into a separate processing unit (this library uses NOTIS); the users don't know this - the contents of all units display on the public-catalog side. The object of this separate unit is that we are able to have global changes or changes that affect a large number of records run in a way that makes the programmers' lives easier. I am wondering if any other library that bought the MARCIVE tapes has done this, and specifically what sorts of changes were made to the MARCIVE map records. Thanks for any assistance. Mary Larsgaard Map & Imagery Lab, UCSB [log in to unmask]