The Mysterious World of US Government Maps

An Introduction to Paper and Digital maps in the FDLP

Christopher J.J. Thiry & Kathryn LageFive State Government Documents Conference

August 3, 2006

National Atlas of the United States of America

1970 Every library should own.

National Atlas Sheets (I 19.111)

Some plates from 1970 Atlas.

Most new sheets available on web, but some printed.

Libraries should get if they have cabinets.

US Geological Survey (USGS) State Maps (I 19.102/)

Excellent base maps.

Can be plain, with topography, or with shaded relief.

USGS Topos (I 19.81, I 19.110)

Excellent for historical research.

Some sheets up-to-date, others over 50 years old.

Different scales. Complete coverage of

the US. Good to own maps of

your library’s city and county--$6 each.

Castle Rock Topos

1:500,000 1980 1:250,000 1978 1:125,000 1898 1:125,000 1913

Castle Rock Topos 1:100,000 1983 1:62,500 1945 1:50,000 1976

Castle Rock Topos

1:24,000 1965 1:24,000 1971 1:24,000 1980 1:24,000 1994

USGS Topo Indexes (I 19.41/6-3)

Free. Need for topos.

USGS National Parks Maps (I 19.106)

Most out-of-date. Show topography

and often shaded relief.

National Park Service Maps (NPS) (I 29.6/, I 29.8, I 29.21, I 29.39)

Black boarder. Given away at park

entrances.

National Forest Service (NFS) (A 13.13, A 13.28, A 13.36)

Up-to-date. Shows roads,

camping, trails.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (I 53.7/2, I 53.11)

Similar to Forest Service. Surface and Mineral Management maps

immediately obsolete.

AMS/DMA/NIMA/NGA

World coverage. Most date from WWII and immediately after. Good for finding old names of cities in Europe.

TPC (Tactical Pilot Chart) (D 5.354)

1:500,000 world-wide, topographic coverage.

None have come through the FDLP in years.

Sectional Aeronautical (TD 4.79/11)

1:500,000 USA. Updated and distributed twice a year.

NOAA, DMA/NIMA Nautical Charts (C 55.440, TD 4.82)

USA and worldwide coverage. Not all issued/released.

CIA (PrEx 3.10/4)

Excellent for displays or reports.

Very simple. Some very current.

FIRM (Flood Insurance Rate Map) (HH 10.9/2)

Shows flood prone areas.

Most out-of-date. Newer ones online.

Soil Surveys (A 57.38)

Not all of the US done—most of the mountainous regions skipped.

Soil types on top of aerial photographs.

USGS Thematic Maps—(I 19.85:C), (I 19.89:HA, (I 19.91:I), (I 19.87:GP), (I 19.88:GQ), (I 19.113:MF), (I 19.90:MR), (I 19.92:OC), (I 19.93:OM), (I 19.91/3:SIM)

All discontinued except SIM (paper), and MF (digital). Usually show geology and usually show USA. Not all of the US mapped geologically. Some mapping of Pakistan (satellite),

other planets and the moon.

USGS Geologic Atlas (I 19.5/)

Covers only parts of the country—mostly mining areas.

Most about 100 years old.

Collectors’ items.

Open-File Reports (OFR) (I 19.76) Most have maps. Most show geology. Blueline copies—print-on-

demand. Most not distributed in paper

form via the FDLP. Some distributed from 1990-

2000 in microfiche. Some issued on cd-rom. Most new ones available on

the web—some old ones too.

Census (C 56.242, C 56.242/2, C 56.242/3)

Variety of themes including elections and congressional districts

Census boundary maps are no longer printed in paper form.

CD-ROMS

Almost all out-of-date and some useless• DOQ (Digital Orthophoto

Quadrangle)

• DRG (Digital Raster Graphic Data)

• DLG (Digital Line Graph)

• TIGER/Census tract street index

Reference Materials A Cartobibliography of Separately Published U.S. Geological

Survey Special Maps and River Surveys Map Index to Topographic Quadrangles of the United States,

1882-1940 World Mapping Today Guide to U.S. Map Resources Where Once We Walked: A Guide to the Jewish Communities

Destroyed in the Holocaust A Guide to the Cartographic Products of the Federal

Depository Library Program (FDLP) http://magert.whoi.edu/pubs.html

“Hi, I need a map…”How to begin thinking about online U.S. government maps

Static (PDF/JPG) Dynamic

• Interactive

• Customizable Maps (WebGIS)

Sites shown today:• Government hosted

• Government data hosted by other organizations

• Digital reproductions of paper maps

• New methods of publishing cartographic information

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) & GeoNET

http://geonames.usgs.gov/ Searchable database from the U.S. Board on

Geographic Names: foreign & domestic Mapping Services

• Google maps

• TopoZone/Terraserver-USA

• Census Maps

• EPA Find Your Watershed

The National Atlas

http://nationalatlas.gov Printable maps Interactive maps (Dynamic Maps) Customizable maps (Map Maker) Download raw data New: Atlas of North America data

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html CIA maps Many other maps: news agencies, other

government agencies, historical maps

The National Map: The Nation’s Topographic Map for the 21st Century

http://nationalmap.gov/ “The National Map is a consistent

framework for geographic knowledge needed by the Nation. It provides public access to high-quality, geospatial data and information from multiple partners to help support decision-making by resource managers and the public.”

Library of Congress American Memory Project

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html• Civil War Maps• Liberia ~ Maps ~ 1830-1870 • Maps and Cartographic Items ~ 1500-Present • National Parks ~ Maps • Panoramic Maps ~ 1847-1929 • Railroads ~ Maps ~ 1828-1900 • Revolutionary Era Maps ~ 1750-1789 • World War II Military Situation Maps

American Memory Map Collections

MrSID & JPEG2000 files

Need special software to download/print

American Memory Map Collections--Viewing

U.S. Census Bureau Mapping

http://www.census.gov/geo/www/maps/ Map Products: Links to PDF maps

• http://www.census.gov/geo/www/maps/CP_MapProducts.htm

• Congressional District Maps

Online Mapping• American Fact Finder

• TIGER Map Server

Searching for U.S. Government Maps Narrowest geographic area → broader geographic

area What agency might create this map or collect this

data? Electronic and paper: start with library catalog Online

• Geospatial One Stop: www.geodata.gov

• Perry-Castañeda Library

• CU-Boulder Map Library’s links (http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/map/links/links.htm)

• Google Image Search

• Odden’s Bookmarks (http://oddens.geog.uu.nl/index.php)

The Mysterious World of US Government Maps

Christopher J.J. ThiryMap LibrarianArthur Lakes LibraryColorado School of MinesOffice: (303) 273-3697Fax: (303) 273-3199cthiry@mines.edu

Presentation and handout can be found at:http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/map/class/past.htm

Katie LageMap LibrarianJerry Crail Johnson Earth Sciences & Map

LibraryUniversity of Colorado at BoulderOffice: (303) 735-4917Fax: (303) 735-4879katie.lage@colorado.edu