Map Collections

History. In the mid 1960s the library took over management of the map collection previously housed in the Geography Department. In 1969 the library became a depository for United States Geological Survey maps. The collection now contains almost 190,000 maps and 2,300 atlases.

General Description. The map collection is a non-circulating reference collection of maps, atlases, gazetteers, soil surveys, and climatological publications. The collection exists to serve the research needs of the faculty, students, and staff of Western Michigan University. The vast majority of the maps are acquired through the U.S. depository program and consist of various topographic series from the United States Geological Survey, maps of foreign countries from the Central Intelligence Agency, national forest and grassland maps from the Department of the Interior, and nautical and aeronautical charts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Note: Please do not fold maps from the drawers, even if they seem to have been folded at one time. We are trying to preserve them; folding and refolding them will cause them to tear sooner.

Collection Development Policy

General. The selection of additional maps and all atlases will be the responsibility of the Map Librarian in conjunction with other librarians and the teaching faculty. Acquisition of these maps will be the responsibility of the acquisitions office of the library. Maps sheets and sets from commercial publishers and foreign governments will be acquired to meet the specific needs of members of the university community. Most general state and national atlases will be acquired. Gazetteers from each state and nation will be purchased as they become available. Standard reference sources will be acquired to assist the user in using and understanding cartographic information. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to make recommendations for acquisitions.

Geographical Areas. Maps and atlases will be collected extensively for Michigan, the Great Lakes region, and the United States. Selection will be more selective for other states and foreign countries.

Plat Books. The library acquires plat books for Michigan counties every ten years with the exception of southwestern Michigan counties. Plat books for southwestern Michigan counties including Allegan, Barry, Van Buren, Calhoun, Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph, and Branch are purchased every five years. Every edition of the Kalamazoo County plat book is acquired.

Retention. As space permits, all editions of most topographical sheets will be retained. In the case of aeronautical and nautical charts only the latest edition or editions at five year intervals will be retained depending on the series.

Collections

Except for the historical collection, all materials are kept in open stacks. While atlases and other books in the collection are accessible through WestCat the individual sheet maps are not. Staff can help you locate these materials.

1:24,000 Scale. Sheets are divided by state and are arranged by sheet name within each state. An index giving sheet names is available in the first drawer for a state.

Soil Surveys. The Map Room contains the largest collection of soil surveys at WMU. Many of these do not appear in WestCat. Some soil surveys are available in the Archives, while others are in bound volumes in the general stacks at Waldo Library.

United States Geological Survey (USGS) series are located in the Vertical files.

County Plat Books. Plat books show land ownership information for large tracts of land at a specific time. Modern plat maps for many Michigan counties are available in the Map Room. Many older plat books are available in the Archives and Regional History Collections.

Gazetteers. Gazetteers provide the location coordinates, most often stated as latitude and longitude, for a locality. The most complete listing of international place names are in gazetteers issued by the US Board of Geographical Names (BGN) and are available in both bound and microform formats in the PCL Map Collection. Additional gazetteers are located in the Reference Room and in Waldo Library's stacks. The eleven volume Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America is available at E 154 O45 1991 (Map) in the Map Collection. The Columbia Gazetteer of the World, a recent, three volume work, is available at G103.5 .C65x 1998 (Ref) in the Reference Department on the first floor of Waldo Library.

Circulation Policy

The maps, atlas and reference books in the collection are primarily intended to serve as reference tools for patrons of the University Libraries. Despite this, we will circulate some maps for a limited time period.

Maps in the collection of popular road maps circulate for two weeks. Staff in the Maps Office have the form you will need to fill out and bring to the circulation desk in order to borrow the popular maps.

Maps from the drawers will be circulated to faculty for classroom purposes in cardboard tubes to protect them. Please do not fold maps from the map drawers, even if they seem to have been folded at one time. We are trying to preserve them; folding and refolding them will cause them to tear sooner.

Other Campus Sources of Maps

Waldo Library. In addition to the atlases available in the Map Room a number of atlases are housed in the Reference Department. These atlases are cataloged and appear in WestCat. A number of maps of national forests are housed in the Government Documents collection on the second floor along with maps of foreign countries issued by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) .

Archives and Regional History Collections. Archives houses a collection of atlases and maps related to the history of southwestern Michigan.

Local Resources

The Local History Room of the (External) Kalamazoo Public Library contains numerous maps and atlases covering the Kalamazoo area and the state of Michigan.

John Rollins Bookstore sells copies of U.S.G.S. topographic maps of southwestern Michigan.

Local governments are also a good source of cartographic information covering their jurisdictions. Planning departments, clerk's offices, and road commissions are just a few of the offices working with and producing maps of local areas.

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