Barbie Selby
Humanities & Social Sciences in Alderman and Clemons Libraries
434-924-4963
bselby@virginia.edu
University of Virginia Library
PO Box 400113
Charlottesville VA 22904-4113
434.924.3021
fax: 434.924.1431
Maps are located in the Map Room, Alderman 3 East. Maps are shelved by CALL NUMBER. Consult with 3rd floor staff for assistance.
The map collection is freely accessible and may be browsed by the public. Most maps in the collection circulate for a period of two weeks and may be renewed. Maps are charged out at the Circulation desk, fourth floor Alderman Library.
Maps that are older, brittle or encapsulated in plastic do not circulate. Some maps may be withdrawn from circulation for periods and placed on reserve for use by classes at the University. Maps reserved for classes do not circulate.
Lost or damaged maps will result in a $25 charge to the user.
Users can search for maps in VIRGO, but this should be considered only a starting point. Many maps in the collection-perhaps as many as half-are not currently listed in VIRGO. Furthermore, because maps are an inherently visual medium, users may have trouble gathering from a text VIRGO record whether a map will suit their purposes.
Searching for Maps in VIRGO
• All VIRGO items containing maps have the word “MAPS” in the Subject field.
• The geographic locations of maps (e.g., Kenya, Europe, Spratley Islands) are always contained in the Subject field.
Example:
1. Enter term(s): Poland Maps
2. Select search type: Keyword
3. Click button: Subject
The United States Government through its Depository Libraries Program has placed these maps on deposit at the Library. These maps make up the majority of the maps we own, and include maps produced by the following agencies:
Other agencies within the Department of Commerce (Census) and Department of Interior (National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management), also produce maps.
Maps in Depository collection are shelved according to the "SuDocs" call numbering scheme developed by the Superintendent of Documents of the US Government Printing Office. Thus all maps from a particular agency are filed together, regardless of geographic area of coverage.
This is the national base map series. Topographic Maps are shelved first by scale/series, and are updated irregularly, as needed. Most of the maps in this collection postdate 1960. The Map Room keeps only the most up to date copies of these maps, except for Virginia.
| Modern Topographic Map Series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Map Series/Scale | Description | How Filed in the Map Room |
| 7.5 Minute/1:24K Scale | These are the most detailed of the quadrangles and show about 49 to 71 square miles of area. NOTE: The following states are in IVY Stacks: Alaska, Utah, ... |
By state, then alphabetically by map name. First map sheet in a state tray will be an index to this series. Most frequently accessed states are located in Map Room along back walls (Virginia is at the entrance); other states are on Floor 1, Old Stacks (see signs in Map Room for further details). |
| 30 x 60 minute/1:100K scale | Greater coverage area with less detail. One of these sheets covers an area equal to 32 7.5-minute maps. Some maps at this scale provide planimetric information, rather than topography. | By state, then alphabetically by map name. All 100K maps are shelved on the back wall of Map Room. |
| 1 degree x 2 degree/1:250K Scale | Least detail. One of these sheets covers an area equal to 128 7.5-minute maps. Some maps at this scale show land use, ecological inventories, and other information. | Map names correspond to largest city depicted on map. Filed alphabetically by city/map name. All such maps are shelved on the back wall of Map Room. |
| Discontinued Topographic Map Series | ||
| Map Series/Scale | Description | How Filed in Map Room |
| County Map Series/1:50K scale | Topographic maps for US counties. An intermediate and now discontinued series. Not all states were mapped in this series, and our collection is by no means complete. These date from the 1970s-1980s. | Filed under call number I 19.108/<STATE> along east wall in Map Room. |
| 15-minute/1:62500 scale | The predecessors to the 7.5 minute and 30x60 minute maps above. These date from 1890-1950. Our collection is by no means complete. | Virginia Maps are shelved near Map Room Information Desk at entrance to the map room. All other states are shelved at end of 1:24K topo maps along back wall of Map Room. For an index, see Riley Moffat, Map Index to Topographic Quadrangles of the United States, 1882 - 1940. GA 405 .M64 1986 (Map Room Reference). |
| 30-minute/1:125K scale | ||
Topographic Map Databases:
The following will help you identify the maps that suit your needs, but are NOT listings of the Library's holdings:
These maps are published irregularly, and coverage of the US is less complete than for the topographic series. We have far fewer of these types of maps, and they are published in different ways, thus shelved in different places. In many cases they are referenced to the same quadrangles used for the topographic maps. But this is not always the case.
How to locate:
Although one can try searching VIRGO, it may be easier to consult the following index:
Laurie Andriot, Guide to USGS Publications. 6026 .G3 G84 (Map Room Reference)
The AREA INDEX is of most use here. It may help to first identify your study area on a USGS topographic map, so that you have some possible alternate area names to use. Items related to the area will be listed with a series letter and item number, which correspond to call numbers as follows:
| Geological and Miscellaneous Investigation Map Series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Item Number Begins | Map Series | Call Number |
| C | Coal Investigation Maps | I 19.85:C- |
| HA | Hydrological Investigation Atlas | I 19.89:HA- |
| Hydrological Unit Maps | I 19.89/2: | |
| I | Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations | I 19.91:I |
| GQ | Geologic Quadrangles | I 19.88:GQ |
| GP | Geophysical Investigations | I 19.87:GP |
| MF | Miscellaneous Field Studies | I 19.113:MF |
| B | Bulletins | *I 19.3:B |
| P | Professional Papers | *I 19.16:P |
| * Indicates a series of maps shelved on Floor 3, New Stacks NOT Map Room. | ||
Geological Publications Guide:
The National Geologic Map Database indexes the geological publications of the US Geological Survey as well as state geological surveys. This is guide to existing publication that may be held at other libraries, not a guide to the holdings of the University of Virginia Library.
The USGS and the Department of the Interior have published a large number of miscellaneous thematic and physical maps of various types at all scales and coverage areas. These may include special series, maps taken from The National Atlas of the United States and National Park Service Maps. Most of our collection of these maps are shelved in Map Room under the call numbers beginning with I. You may find a useful or interesting map by browsing the trays.
These primarily cover the western United States where the Bureau of Land Management maintains federal land. These maps are usually drawn to the standard 30x60 minute quadrangles favored by the USGS.
How to locate:
Shelved under call number I 53. in the Map Room. The areas covered match the area covered by USGS topographic maps at corresponding scale (1:100K)
These maps are based upon the 7.5-minute topographic map series (see above), and are essentially topographic maps with added detail regarding the national forest areas surveyed. These maps have now been discontinued as a standalone series are being replaced by topographic maps that combine the details of both series.
These are all in Ivy Stacks and can be paged via VIRGO.
The Small Special Collections Library does house a small collection of aerial photographs. These maps include 1957, 1966, and 1974 editions of 1:20,000 scale maps of Albemarle County, Virginia with photo indexes, as well as photo indexes of other counties in the Commonwealth. An index to the photos is available.
Many of the Albemarle aerial photos have been scanned. The Historic Aerial Photos of Albemarle and Charlottesville page will enable one to see these photos.
These are detailed charts of coastal areas of the world and inland waterways of the United States.
How to locate:
Shelved in order of map sheet number along the east wall of the Map Room lab. Indexes to the series are located on top of those maps cases containing these sheets.
Formerly the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) and the Army Map Service (AMS). NIMA publishes maps of many countries in various scales. Strategic areas during World War II are covered, as is much of the British Commonwealth. The United States and Latin America are not thoroughly covered. Generally each NIMA/DMA map shows only a section of a country, and includes a great deal of surface detail.
How to locate:
NIMA/DMA maps are assigned a call number of D 5.355:. They are located in the cabinets along the south wall of the Map Room Center. The large series of NIMA/DMA maps are in VIRGO. Individual sheets can be identified by using the NIMA/DMA map catalog on the bookshelves near the NIMA/DMA map cases. This file is by country and refers to the series and map numbers for any particular country.
For NIMA/DMA maps, the sheet numbers are grid numbers. Within the 1301 series the first letter (N or S) indicates whether the area is north or south of the equator, and the next letter (A-Z) indicates how far. Numbers are assigned in sequence moving eastward from the International Date Line. A typical NIMA/DMA map number would be 1301 NQ32.
Unlike the Depository maps, these maps will be primarily shelved according to the geographic area covered by the map, rather than by the type of map. Most of these maps will be shelved under the G call number in the trays immediately behind the Map Room Information Desk. Most maps of this sort will be listed in VIRGO. You may find it useful to consult the guide to Library of Congress call numbers for maps to help you browse the trays. This is found both in "LC Call Numbers for Maps" in the red folder at the Map Room desk, or on the web.
This collection is generally less up to date, less comprehensive and less complete than the depository map collection. These are maps primarily from commercial sources, or perhaps from non-US mapping agencies, and various other sources.
These may include the kinds of street maps you can buy in a grocery store, or pick up at a Chamber of Commerce. There are number of maps and gazetteers of non-US cities on the Atlas shelves in Map Room.
There are a fair number of these available for US and non-US cities. However, the more detailed maps (ie, zoning and planning maps) are less common because these maps are not published, redistributed or collected in any organized way by libraries and state or local governments. Some foreign city plans will be found, but these will likely be out of date. See also the details on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, which are held on microfilm for Virginia and the District of Columbia.
The Map Room holds many complete or nearly complete map base maps produced by foreign governments at intermediate to large scales. These include all of the UK at 1:50K, much of France and Italy at 1:100K, and other European and South American nations. Maps such as these are similar to our US Geological Survey topographic map series.
Special Collections Library
Special Collections holds over 5,000 flat maps that complement the strengths of the rare books and manuscripts collections in the subject areas of early Americana, the Southeastern United States, Virginia, and the Civil War. The maps vary widely in their scope and purpose and include exploration, navigation, property and road surveys, railroad maps, postal routes, Civil War battlefields and plans, geological, mining, geographical, topographical, census and demographic maps, among others. Most maps in the Special Collections area are not cataloged in Virgo, but may be located using the card files in the public service area. The collection is strongest in Virginia maps, but it's worth a visit to see what you can locate in the catalog.
Fine Arts Library Image Collection (Fine Arts Library)
The image collection in the Fine Arts Library holds a number of slides of maps. To get a sampling, you can try searching in VIRGO Advanced Searching for the word "map" and specify ITEM TYPE: "slide." Not all of these will be found in VIRGO, so you should pay a visit to their card files.
Atlases (Alderman, Fine Arts stacks)
Atlases are a significant source of maps, especially older maps, but not all atlases are housed in Map Room due to space. Those that are found in Map Room are primarily recent reference volumes or unusual items. Other atlases, that can be found in the stacks of Alderman, Fine Arts or Science and Engineering Libraries, are usually found in VIRGO.