(main menu)
SITEMAP
site is
ABOUT
NEW
|
|
(main menu) |
|
SITEMAP |
site is ABOUT |
NEW |
|
For the best summary of the map descriptions that are (or are not) available online, see David Y Allen's 'Online Map Catalogs in North America and Europe'.
Increasingly, libraries are providing web access to their map catalogues and
to selected images of the maps in their keeping. Over 4,300 institutions worldwide are listed
in the Repositories of Primary Sources. See also ARCHON's list of overseas repositories
, and the Library of Congress's Portals to the World ('Links to Electronic Resources from
Around the World selected by Library of Congress Subject Experts' - see 'Libraries, Archives' for each country).
For the US, see the US National Archives and
Records Administration's Archival Research Catalog (replacing the NARA Archival Information Locator (NAIL))
and the National Union Catalog of
Manuscript Collections (NUCMC).
For the UK, the growing Access to Archives
(A2A) collection of catalogues of UK archives contained '7.1 million catalogue entries from
357 record offices' in September 2004. Part of that will be the 'London Archives on the Wider
World', led by the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office and the Historical
Manuscripts Commission) and the British Library. The Archives Hub provides ‘a national gateway to descriptions of archives in UK
universities and colleges’ (a general search for maps produced 728 hits and for maps
as subjects, 101 - November 2004). For record respositories around the UK see the ARCHON Directory and
Mark Howells's English
Record Offices and Archives on the Web (with links for Scotland and Wales as well).
See also Library Spot (a general listing of libraries), with
its link to the Berkeley Digital Library's Library Servers via WWW ("over
7400 pages from libraries in over 125 countries" [at October 2005]). Another useful source is ’Places with maps in Belgium and in Europe’ (over 40 map repositories
in Belgium (Brussels International Map Collectors' Circle [BIMCC]).
Archives and some museums also hold map
collections.
Use the special history of cartography search options provided for Oddens' Bookmarks, to search for relevant institutions ('Map Collections - General') and their catalogues ('Map Collections - Catalogues') [though note that this site is no longer being maintained].
Alternatively, consult the Library of Congress's Electronic Research Tools, with its links to over 300 library catalogues round the world, via a Z39.50 gateway. These are book catalogues but they will include some cartographic material. Indeed, some map collections are wholly included in their library's general book catalogue.
Other routes are via Gabriel, the gateway site for European national libraries, and HERO, links to library OPACs worldwide (Higher Education and Research Opportunities in the United Kingdom).
For information about networks of archives, libraries and museums, and other organisational matters, see here.
Theft of maps from libraries is a perennial problem. For a discussion of the issues involved, and a list of links, see Map Thefts
(see, for information about individual institutions, the Libraries section below)
Copac (a union catalogue, providing free access to the merged online catalogues of 24 of the largest university research libraries in the UK and Ireland plus the British Library and the National Library of Scotland - see Map Search Guide).
IKAR - Database of old maps, listing about 225,000 pre-1850 printed maps in a group of German libraries. To search, click on 'Datenbank'. There is a review of the site (in German). [Also here]
IDS Basel/Bern catalogue - maps of Switzerland and neighbouring countries, including those in the Ryhiner Project.
Universitätsbibliothek Karlsruhe Virtual Katalog - not a union catalogue, as such, but providing access to "75 millions books and serials in library and book trade catalogs worldwide", including the 'most important' German library catalogues, as well as those of the Library of Congress, British Library and Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Many maps are listed in the online utility OCLC's WorldCat. This normally needs to be accessed via a subscribing library, using the FirstSearch service. The other main utility, also US-based, is RLIN.
The 754 printed volumes of The National Union Catalogue [London: Mansell, 1968-81] are valuable for pre-1956 imprints.
See also Karteninstitutionen, Kartenverkäufer - Map Institutions, Map Sellers (a useful collection of gateways and links from Jürg Bühler - Kartensammlung der ETH-Bibliothek)
There are also a number of national directories. These are listed in the Who's Who in the History of Cartography: the international guide to the subject (D9) (1998, pp. 21-22). The same directory (pp.22-23) lists the catalogues of leading map collections worldwide.
Additions since 1998:-
Canadian Universities: Online Map Catalogues (Amy Chan, University of Waterloo, University Map & Design Library)
American Universities: Online Map Catalogues (Amy Chan, University of Waterloo, University Map & Design Library)
The Map Catalogue has been mounted on COPAC, where new entries are being added. There is a Map Search option. It is possible to select just BL map records.
The 'British Library Map Catalogue on CD-ROM' (frozen at 1997) incorporates the catalogues of printed maps, together with descriptions of manuscript maps acquired before c. 1850. It comprises 200,000 records covering 4.3 million maps. The 'Brief and selective guide' to using the CD may be freely downloaded. For information about purchasing the CD contact Primary Source Microfilm (part of the Gale Group) and see the Map Catalogue page.
To trace printed maps that were published in atlases or books (and therefore, for the most part, omitted from the map catalogue), see Rodney W. Shirley Maps in the Atlases of the British Library: a Descriptive Catalogue c.850-1800 (London: British Library, 2004), 2 volumes and CD with indexes [ISBN: 0712347992]. This describes the contents of 3,300 pre-1800 'atlases'.
For later manuscript accessions, and for manuscript texts of cartographic relevance, an unpublished database - arranged in geographical, nominal, chronological and thematic sequences - is available in the Map Library. Short extracts can be sent on request - contact: maps@bl.uk. You can also consult online the British Library's general catalogues of printed books ('the British Library Public Catalogue' [BLPC]) (which includes some atlases and books containing maps) and the Department of Manuscripts' catalogue (which includes descriptions for many of the maps acquired after about 1860 that do not appear on the CD-ROM map catalogue).
For a general impression of the Map Library by an outsider see "Simply Superb" by Liz Sagues in Mercator's World, March/April 2000.
Consult the online Catalogue
(formerly known as PROCAT), which describes many thousands of maps and plans as well as files,
reports, correspondence, photographs, treaties and other records. There are more than 500 record series
consisting entirely of maps and plans.
The Catalogue is now the most up-to-date finding aid to records in The National Archives and is gradually superseding traditional
means of reference such as the published map catalogues - Maps and Plans in the Public
Record Office: Volume 1 British Isles c. 1410-1860; Volume 2 America; Volume 3 Africa; Volume 4
Europe (London, 1967-98). A major retrospective conversion project is currently under way
to add descriptions of maps from the printed catalogues and card catalogues to the Catalogue but the
printed catalogues (which describe about 25,000 manuscript and printed maps) may need to be
consulted for some time yet.
The short-title list of atlases (by Roger Baskes) records over 4000 works containing five or more maps, transferred to the Newberry Library, with their call numbers.
Various commercial sites selling facsimile maps include an image gallery, although the scans are unlikely to be at high resolution. Generations Press offer facsimiles of 'City Maps and Town Plans' (1100 examples from 750 cities) and 'Regional Maps' (of Central and Eastern Europe). The Old Map Company, Historic Urban Plans, Inc., and Maps of the Past are other companies selling facsimile maps online. The U.S. Historical Archive offers CD-ROMs of city panoramas, railroad and Civil War maps, etc., and shows selected images in low resolution; while Maps of the Past offers medium resolution images of 'restored historical maps' of the USA, in various categories.
Many printed facsimiles of early Dutch maps are being produced, as part of a
continuing project at Utrecht University - see the Explokart Research
Project page. For details of commercially produced facsimiles of Dutch maps, see the
'Nieuwe Literatur en facsimile-uitgaven' section at the end of each issue of Caert-Thresoor [not online]. Jan
Smits has produced an extended essay, much of it discussing facsimiles of Dutch maps (see chapters 3-6).
Facsimiles
of Swiss maps produced by Cartographica Helvetica are listed on their website.
For a listing of facsimiles of almost 400 early town plans and views, contact Historic Urban Plans, Inc., Box 276, Ithaca, N.Y. 14851, U.S.A. The Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives offers 150 facsimiles of Canadian maps and city plans. See Pomengrate.com for map reproductions in calendars, address books, postcards, etc.
See also Web Images. For a warning about facsimiles that might appear to be originals (forgeries) see Fakes, Forgeries & Facsimiles likely to deceive
