College and Research Libraries By J. O. K I L M A R T I N The Map Information Office* Mr. Kilmartin is chiefInformation Office, U. S. Geological Survey. TH I S P A P E R P R E S E N T S an over-all view of a little-known service w i t h i n the federal government—the M a p Informa- tion Office of the U. S. Geological Sur- vey—a service supplying a wealth of summary i n f o r m a t i o n on maps that is in ever-increasing d e m a n d in all librar- ies today. T h e enormous n u m b e r of maps now being published, the m u l t i t u d e of sub- jects and data portrayed, a n d the cur- rent availability of related data such as aerial photographs a n d geodetic control surveys—all these indeed challenge the skills and resourcefulness of librarians a n d their staffs in m a i n t a i n i n g up-to- date reference materials. As a guide in developing your library's m a p collection, whether your library is a m a p depository for federal government maps or maintains a reference collection, you have probably obtained the catalogs, indexes, checklists and reports issued by the government and the volumes de- scribing government publications pre- pared by your association members and others. These publications, you have dis- covered, serve as your most authorita- tive bibliographical aids for general reference service in the field of surveying a n d mapping. Yet, with the best reference materials at hand, you may frequently ponder many seemingly strange requests. Per- haps, too, you receive such questions as these directed to o u r office: " W h e r e can I get a m a p of the u n c h a r t e d islands in * Address presented at the m e e t i n g of the A L A Public Documents Committee, Philadelphia, P a . , J u l y 6, 1955. P a p e r approved f o r publication by the director, U . S. Geological Survey. the Pacific"; "a m a p showing all the good fishing spots"; "a m a p showing all the n a t u r a l resources of the United States"; "a m a p showing all the un- known deposits of u r a n i u m ? " These inquiries may appear on the lighter side of rendering adequate ref- erence assistance to the map-using pub- lic; nevertheless they do reflect genuine sincerity of purpose. O n the more seri- ous side, our office receives, for the most part, inquiries of a technical n a t u r e per- taining to all kinds of maps and related data for the administrative a n d p l a n n i n g needs of government, for exploration a n d scientific use, for industrial expan- sion a n d development programs, for ed- ucational purposes, and for h u n d r e d s of other uses. I n answering these in- quiries, the professional staff of the M a p I n f o r m a t i o n Office can advise what maps a n d data are available and where they may be obtained. At this point, a brief resume of the surveying and m a p p i n g of the U n i t e d States, its territories a n d possessions within the past century may be h e l p f u l in explaining how the surveys conduct- ed by the government have been co- ordinated and how the M a p Informa- tion Office has been developed to serve federal a n d state agencies and the public as a central source of survey and m a p data. T h e desirability of coordinating the surveying and m a p p i n g activities of the federal government was recognized as early as 1878. At that time, f o u r ex- ploratory geographical a n d geological surveys were in progress west of the 100th meridian. Bitter rivalry developed d u r i n g these surveys, which h a d been started about 1867, a n d resulted in 132 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES strong competition for support. T h e sur- veys overlapped and spheres of activity were undefined. T o remedy this situa- tion, the Congress of the United States requested the National Academy of Science to recommend a plan whereby these surveys could be consolidated. As a result of the academy's studies and recommendation, the f o u r exploratory surveys were abolished and the Congress created the Geological Survey on March 3, 1879. T h e need for f u r t h e r coordination of federal surveying and m a p p i n g was again a p p a r e n t shortly after W o r l d W a r I, since in the intervening years many overlapping functions h a d devel- oped. Acting u p o n the recommendations of the m a j o r map-making a n d map-using agencies, the President of the United States created by Executive Order on December 30, 1919, a Federal Board of Surveys and Maps. Among other stipu- lations, the Executive Order directed the Board to "establish a central information office in the Geological Survey for the purpose of collecting, classifying, and furnishing to the public information concerning all m a p and survey data available in the several Government de- partments a n d f r o m other sources." T h e Federal Board and the M a p In- formation Office (as it later became known) functioned within their corre- lative and advisory capacities until the board was abolished by Executive Order on March 10, 1942. T h e functions of the board were then assigned to the Bureau of the Budget, at whose request the M a p Information Office continued to be maintained within the Geological Sur- vey, although on a r a t h e r small scale because of the wartime restrictions. During World W a r II, the production of maps and charts for the United States and all parts of the world was stepped u p tremendously. T h u s , at the close of the war, the enormous volume of these publications and the unprecedented de- mand for all types of m a p and survey data again pointed u p the imperative need for a central and authoritative source of m a p information. T o meet this need, the staff and facilities of the Map I n f o r m a t i o n Office were expanded in the early part of 1946 to u n d e r t a k e this challenging assignment. I n the ensuing years, the demand for survey and m a p information has con- tinued to increase, engendered in p a r t through the extensive use of maps by soldiers and civilians d u r i n g the war period and through the peacetime de- velopment programs of government a n d industry in this country and a r o u n d the world. For the first f o u r months of this year, service requests (including those received by mail a n d telephone and from visitors) as compared with the same period in 1946, reflected a 30-fold increase. T h e M a p I n f o r m a t i o n Office today comprises three specialized units: the T o p o g r a p h i c Maps Unit, the Aerial Photography Unit, and the Geodetic Control Unit. T h e activities of these units fall into clearly defined fields of responsibility and service. T h e T o p o g r a p h i c Maps U n i t carries on continuous research for all topo- graphic data pertaining to the U n i t e d States, its territories and possessions, produced by federal, state, or commer- cial organizations. T h e u n i t makes eval- uation studies of these data and pub- lishes the results of this appraisal an- nually in the form of an index map, ti- tled "Status of T o p o g r a p h i c M a p p i n g in the United States." T h i s index shows by color and pattern the status of the topographic maps produced by the Geological Survey and other federal agencies. T h e map appraisal given in this index differentiates f o u r map-eval- uation classes: Class 1, a standard qual- ity map; Class 2, a standard quality m a p but one in need of revision; Class 3, a useful map b u t one deficient in accu- racy and content; Class 4, a substandard, reconnaissance map or one requiring MARCH, 1956 133 resurvey. I n addition to portraying the latest summary i n f o r m a t i o n on all avail- able topographic maps, the index re- veals the areas of the United States not yet mapped a n d indicates the areas in which new m a p p i n g is authorized or in progress. Along with its research and evaluation work, this u n i t maintains a complete file of all topographic maps produced by the Geological Survey a n d a complete compilation history of these maps. T h e u n i t also assembles a n d makes available for sale preliminary copy of new mapping. T h i s advance copy is ob- tainable, at the cost of reproduction, for a period of about two years prior to final publication of the q u a d r a n g l e map. Such copy is most useful to engineers, surveyors, and other technical m a p users in government a n d industry. T h e Aerial Photography U n i t is pri- marily responsible for the assembly of information on the aerial photography of the U n i t e d States, its territories and possessions, taken by federal a n d state agencies and by commercial organiza- tions. T h i s u n i t has the most complete record of aerial photography in existence for the U n i t e d States, its territories and possessions, showing the film-holding agency for all photography, the date of the photography, the flight altitude, the scale, a n d the focal length of the aerial camera lens. T h e cumulative records of this u n i t account for about nine million square miles of photography; that is, photography for about three times the area of the U n i t e d States. T h e u n i t publishes the results of its research in an index map, "Aerial Pho- tography of the U n i t e d States," which shows by line p a t t e r n and color the areas photographed a n d the film-holding agency. Several federal agencies—the Geological Survey, the Coast and Geo- detic Survey, and the Department of Agriculture—are authorized to sell re- productions f r o m the film negatives in their files of the photography shown on this index. Reproductions f r o m photog- raphy held by the D e p a r t m e n t of the Army and the D e p a r t m e n t of the Navy are available only if the area has not been photographed by a civilian agency. T h e Geodetic Control U n i t is respon- sible for m a i n t a i n i n g records of all hori- zontal and vertical control data produced by the Geological Survey a n d other fed- eral agencies. Control surveys are re- quired by the Geological Survey and other map-making agencies as the frame- work for the p r e p a r a t i o n of topographic maps. I n former years, the survey data were considered more or less a by-prod- uct of the topographic map, b u t today in some areas these data are assuming almost as much importance as the m a p itself, especially where scientific investi- gations a n d certain land surveys require more accurate geographic positions and elevations above sea level than can be shown on the map. T h e u n i t maintains records of the latitude, longitude, and elevation above sea level of about five million bench marks scattered t h r o u g h o u t the country. Records are m a i n t a i n e d in 15-minute quadrangle units conforming to the sheet layout of a topographic quadran- gle map. About every three years the u n i t pub- lishes index maps of the U n i t e d States showing all horizontal and vertical con- trol established and reported by federal agencies. It also makes available, at the cost of reproduction, photostatic copies of a series of state maps showing the lo- cation of these control surveys in more detail. Many depository libraries endeavor to m a i n t a i n complete collections of topo- graphic a n d geologic quadrangle maps and other i m p o r t a n t m a p series. D u r i n g the war, many of the depository libraries did not receive the Geological Survey's topographic maps regularly and, there- fore, some quadrangle maps may be missing f r o m these collections. These (Continued on page 155) 134 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES ates will e v e n t u a l l y b e m o v e d , a f t e r w e e d i n g , to t h e n e w b u i l d i n g . I t is likely t h a t , a p a r t f r o m t h e e n g i n e e r i n g collection, t h e c o n t e n t of t h e u n d e r g r a d u a t e l i b r a r y will t o t a l be- t w e e n 100,000 a n d 150,000 volumes. T h e p l a n s d o n o t i n c l u d e a s e p a r a t e re- serve b o o k r o o m d e s p i t e t h e f a c t t h a t all r e q u i r e d r e a d i n g m a t e r i a l f o r courses w h i c h i n c l u d e u n d e r g r a d u a t e s will be k e p t i n this l i b r a r y . P r o v i s i o n is b e i n g m a d e f o r a lim- i t e d , c o n t r o l l e d collection of reserve b o o k s a g a i n s t t h e possibility t h a t some r e q u i r e d r e a d i n g m a y simply n o t b e a v a i l a b l e in a n a d e q u a t e n u m b e r of copies. F o r t h e most p a r t , however, r e q u i r e d o r collateral r e a d i n g w h i c h m u s t b e p r o v i d e d i n m u l t i p l e copies will b e k e p t in its p r o p e r p l a c e o n t h e o p e n shelves, t h e spines of t h e books m a r k e d to i n d i c a t e t h a t they m a y b e c h a r g e d o u t o n l y o v e r n i g h t . F i n a l a r r a n g e m e n t of t h e books h a s n o t yet b e e n settled. T h e site f o r t h e b u i l d i n g a n d t h e space r e q u i r e m e n t s h a v e g o v e r n e d its s h a p e a n d t h e n u m b e r of stories, b u t it is c o m p l e t e l y flexible a n d it s h o u l d l e n d itself to a r r a n g e m e n t of t h e books in a divi- sional p a t t e r n . W e h a v e n o t p l a n n e d f o r a s e p a r a t e b r o w s i n g collection. I n a b r o a d sense, t h e e n t i r e collection will b e a b r o w s i n g collec- t i o n f o r t h e w h o l e c a m p u s . T h e l i b r a r y will c o n t a i n n o t o n l y t h e best books of t h e p a s t b u t those of t h e p r e s e n t , since it is o u r f i r m belief t h a t t h e s t u d e n t s ' e d u c a t i o n n o t only s h o u l d give t h e m a sense of history b u t s h o u l d m a k e t h e m a w a r e of t h e best cur- r e n t t h i n k i n g o n t h e issues a n d life of o u r times. I t is n o t i n t e n d e d t h a t t h e u n d e r g r a d u - ates b e r e s t r i c t e d t o this b u i l d i n g . O n t h e c o n t r a r y , it is h o p e d t h a t t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e i n t h e u n d e r g r a d u a t e l i b r a r y will s t i m u l a t e t h e m to m a k e a d v a n t a g e o u s use of t h e re- search collections. T h e y will b e w e l c o m e d a t all b r a n c h e s of t h e l i b r a r y system w h e n they h a v e a serious p u r p o s e i n u s i n g t h e m . T h e s o l u t i o n t h a t we h a v e a d o p t e d m a y n o t be viable o n m a n y o t h e r campuses. I a m c e r t a i n , however, t h a t it will h e l p t h e l i b r a r y share in i m p o r t a n c e a n d effective- ness w i t h t h e i n s p i r a t i o n of g o o d t e a c h i n g i n e d u c a t i n g t h e u n d e r g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y of M i c h i g a n . The Map Information Office (Continued from page 134) can be obtained on specific request if copies are still available. Also, as you have probably observed, new editions of the state indexes are being issued much more frequently t h a n in previous years. It is suggested that a careful check of your collections be made to assure that they are u p to date, especially in regard to maps of your local area. Whatever your most perplexing m a p problems are, whether they concern map acquisition, the maintenance of your collections, or the supplying of specific m a p data for professional and technical requirements, o u r office is always glad to be of assistance. Although we d o not attempt to maintain file copies of all maps and related publications issued by government and private groups, we can generally advise what coverage is avail- able for a specific area a n d where it can be obtained. Often, too, we can supply, or direct you to the source of the infor- mation required to answer, many of the seemingly intricate requests for m a p data. T h i s service is available to all who wish to take advantage of it. T h e Map I n f o r m a t i o n Office is always eager to learn about appropriate ma- terial that may have been overlooked, and we welcome any suggestions that you wish to make as to how we can improve our service to you and to the users of libraries. MARCH, 1956 1.155