Those with limited resources, need not be limited in resources.

One of the more valuable digital resources available within the Map Room is GIS or Geographic Information System software.  This tool, for those not familiar, enables users to overlay and analyse geospatial data to create their own map, report, or to answer some geographic query such as identifying optimal locations for emergency services.  Purchasing this software, however, can be expensive and limit its availability for many users.  Within larger institutions, such as at the Map Room at Memorial’s Queen Elizabeth II Library, many are able to take advantage of site license agreements that make the software a little more accessible, but still, not everyone is so lucky.

For smaller libraries wishing to take advantage of this software, there is the option of using open source software.  There are several open source GIS packages available, but one of the more common ones is GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System).  This software was developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the early 80’s to support environmental initiatives undertaken by the military.  It has since evolved into the world’s leading open source GIS software.   One advantage of open source software is that the users themselves drive the direction it takes.  Frequently, users are able to create a new tool or modification, or contribute to a wish list for other users or programmers to tackle.  With the barriers of cost removed, along with enabling users to drive the direction of development, many more doors are opened.  The advantages offered by open source GIS are numerous.  Probably the greatest benefits can be realized by those involved with community based mapping projects and public participation GIS.  These initiatives are as the name suggest, driven by the public and reflect in maps what is important to the people, rather than what is deemed important by the government or large corporations.

I know where it is - but what does it show?

Library catalogues have certainly come a long way from the days of the seemingly endless trays of cards.   Library systems and catalogues are now augmented or ‘enriched’ by a wealth of supplementary information resulting in a greatly enhanced catalogue record.  The interconnectivity of the internet has resulted in greater access to information such as reviews, author biographies, excerpts, or images associated with the product.  This additional information need not be contained within the library or even with the individual record of the book, but can be pulled in from additional sources to augment the record as required.

What does it all mean for the average library user?  Today’s library patrons are used to accessing much more information over the internet and consequently they’re seeking more from the library.  Frequently, library catalogues are being accessed off-site.  Providing the user with this additional information may assist with the evaluation of materials and help to narrow their selections before ever visiting the library.  Even something as simple as providing an image of an album cover of an audio recording can be extremely helpful, not to mention a little more visually appealing.

How does this apply to maps?  Perhaps snippets of maps can be added to the record to help illustrate the content of the map. In many cases, the legend of the map can be included to enrich the catalogue record.  The legend defines all of the symbols shown on the map and would certainly assist the reader by showing them precisely what it contains.  Currently, the scale and geographic extent of the map forms an integral part of the catalogue record, but beyond that the record describing the contents can be pretty sparse.  If given an opportunity to include a portion of the legend, the record will provide a better indication of what the map actually contains.  In addition to adding the legend, many systems allow individual users to add tags or to write reviews for the record, further assisting others with their own evaluation of the resource.  Catalogue records for maps can be pretty vague, but they certainly don’t need to be!

Do you have more than one atlas?

Here at the Map Room in the Queen Elizabeth II Library at MUN, we house the map collection for the library and offer geographic reference services for the university community. To provide this service, we rely on approximately 100,000 sheet maps, nearly 50,000 aerial photos of the province (some photos date back to 1941) and roughly 4,500 atlases, not to mention the gigabytes of digital map data available. So, you can imagine our surprise when we get a call from a person wanting to know if we had more than one atlas! As it turns out, students had been given an assignment that referred them to a specific atlas, so the patron was really asking if we had more than one copy of that particular edition. Still it offered an opportunity to promote the collection just a little bit.


When thinking of maps, people tend to think of street maps, topographic reference maps and other products of that nature. I know I’ve said before that everything happens somewhere, therefore, if we approach it the right way anything that has a geographic component can be mapped. Maps and atlases can portray some very specialized topics. How about The Women’s Atlas of the United States (Call no. G 1201 E1 G5 1995) which presents a collection of maps on a variety of topics pertaining to Women; and Women within the larger population. Another very specialized topic is The Geography of Death: Mortality Atlas of British Columbia, 1985-1989 (HB 1360 B7 G45 1992). This atlas, as with most, not only contains maps but is also full of a wealth of statistics, graphs, and textual information on the demographics of death. Perhaps you may be more interested in The Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, Phonology, and Sound Change (PE 2808 L26 2006) that not only maps and describes variations of dialect, but comes complete with CD so that one can hear the variations as well.


The atlas collection of the Map Room offers a well-rounded array (both digital and print) in a variety of shapes and sizes that covers numerous topics from general reference to the very specialized. In fact, you may be surprised with just what you will find there. So, yes, we do have more than one atlas!