October, 2010

Indonesia: Sumatra Earthquakes and Tsunami - maps from ReliefWeb

NOAA's Office of Coast Survey - Civil War Collection - NOAA has recently digitized a collection of maps and documents from the U.S. Coast Survey in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. 

June 18, 2010

Gulf of Mexico oil spill Interactive Map - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA) in collaboration with others has built an interactive map of the response to the oil spill.

About the Karen F. Jacob Map Collection

Morgan Library has approximately 80,000 maps and atlases of all types including physical, political, and thematic maps (vegetation, geologic, population, oceanographic). Maps and atlases are located in the Basement, North. Maps can be checked out for two weeks.  Reference Atlases are located on the First Floor, South.  Reference Altases do not circulate.
 

Locating a Map

Maps are classified using either Library of Congress (LC) call numbers or Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) numbers.

LC classed maps have records in the library catalog.  Most atlases are also classed in LC.

SuDoc classed maps come from federal government agencies. These call numbers correspond to a particular agency rather than to geography.  Many do not have records in SAGE, but finding tools for these are located at the Information Desk or in the map area as described below.  Within the SuDoc  system are topographic maps from several agencies including the United States Geological Survey.

Understanding Maps:

• Reading Maps (Statistics Canada)
  Easy to understand tutorial.
• Introduction to Maps  (WebJunction)
  Links to various topics.
• Geography and Maps  (Library of Congress)
  Useful overview with emphasis upon Library of Congress collections.
• What are Latitude and Longitude  (US National Atlas)
  Good brief explanations.
• Map Scales  (USGS)
  Brief but thorough explanation with accompanying chart of maps and scales.
• Topographic Maps  (USGS Maps and Images)
  A very brief explanation.
• Topographic Map Symbols  (USGS)
  A detailed explanation including the symbols themselves.
• Topographic Map Scales  (Utah Geological Survey)
  A detailed explanation of scales and the General Land Office Grid.
• Map Projections
  Graphic images of numerous map projections.
  

For assistance with the CSU Libraries Map Collection, contact:

Jeff Bullington

(970) 491-4107
Email Jeff Bullington