[Publib] map collections

[Judith Turner]

Hi, Sharon --

Here's a link to suppliers of archival quality products compiled by the Conservation Dept. at the American Museum of Natural History:

http://library.amnh.org/conservation/suppliers.html

You may have catalogs from these suppliers available; otherwise contact them for information.  If they don't have map storage boxes similar to those you want they should have precut folders (good if you don't need a large quantity.)

At MPM there were a half dozen large map cases of various heights running along one wall of the library.  The cases contained between 2,000-3,000 maps organized by LC Schedule G.  For us the most economical solution was to purchase rolls of a thick-stock paper, close to the thickness and color of the paper stock used to make manila folders. We found these rolls at various library suppliers of archival-quality products. 

The paper was acid- and lignin-free and buffered to prevent acid migration.  The rolls were the same width as the drawers in our map cases and we would simply cut the paper to a little less than 2 times the depth of the drawer, fold it in half and store a dozen or so maps in call no. order in each homemade folder.  Four or five of these folders containing maps would fit in each drawer of the case.

It was a great way to keep maps in series - like U.S. Geological Survey Topographical Series maps - together. And it helped to maintain some semblance of order in the drawers.

The folders provided support for the maps, minimized the risk of damaging individual maps while taking them in/out of drawers. and kept smaller maps or those on thinner paper from getting crumpled or lost.  We noted to range of call numbers contained in each folder on the edge at the front of the drawer so we could flip through them and remove the correct folder without disturbing the others.

We stored nearly all our maps flat.  Maps too large to fit in the drawers (e.g., 19th century railroad surveys of the American West) were rolled around an etha-foam core and stored on poles that hung horizontally in a specially constructed case designed by one of the museum carpenters with input from the museum conservator and me. If you want paper maps to last, it's imperative they not be folded.  

Judy Turner 
Whitefish Bay, WI


salbert <salbert at lindenpl.org> wrote: I would like to pose a question to my fellow librarians regarding storage of city maps.I have not been able to find any suitable container/folder in which to store these. Years ago we had ordered some maps from City Map Library who had provided us with a fabulous box to store them but I can't seem to find them any longer.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.



 
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