Map collection catalogues online

• COPAC
  A union catalogue which gives free access to the merged online catalogues of members of the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL) in the UK. PLUS the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the National Library of Wales/Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru.
  See COPAC's list of contributing libraries for details and cautions.
• British Library
  The catalogue can also be searched separately from COPAC
• Library of Congress
• New York Public Library
• Online Map Catalogs in North America and Europe by David Y. Allen
• The Map Collections page of The Map History / History of Cartography
  This site also has lots of useful links. Although the emphasis is on catalogues containing early maps many will also contain more modern materials.

Map scale

• An example of the various scales of Ordnance Survey maps
• This guide to map scale was produced by the University of Arizona
• Help from the US Geological Survey on scale
• Scale Finder converts linear scales to representative fractions and vice-versa. Written by Nigel James when he worked at the Bodleian Library, it is an invaluable tool for cataloguers and map users and is free to non-commercial users.
• Terry Reese of Oregon State University has created an online scale calculator
• MapTools produces grids, corner rulers, roamers, and rulers to assist with plotting or measuring positions on many different scales of maps. Tools for both UTM/MGRS and Latitude/Longitude coordinates are available.

Natural scale indicators

• These devices enable a quick calculation of scale from scale bars. A handy one can be purchased from the Memorial University of Newfoundland Cartographic Laboratory. 'For more information contact: Professor Clifford H. Wood (Retired), P.O. Box 225, Ilderton, Ontario, Canada, N0M 2A0. E-mail: drchwood@sympatico.ca
• The U. S. Geological Survey has published a poster to aid the conversion of bar scales to representative fractions: Miscellaneous Field Studies Map, No.MF 1141, Graphs showing linear to fractional scale conversions for maps, by Alpha, T.R. and Poole, D.W., 1979, SAP Number 30236.
  It is now available exclusively from: Clifford H. Wood, PhD, 66 Meredith Drive, P.O. Box 225, Ilderton, Ontario Canada N0M 2A0. E-mail: drchwood@sympatico.ca

Cataloguing of maps

• Guide to Cataloguing Printed Maps - Guidance notes for the occasional map cataloguer by Paula Williams and available on the Historic Libraries Forum website.
• MARC standards for cataloguing Also information on RDA in MARC
• Library of Congress Map Cataloging Manual in their Cataloger's Reference Shelf
• Guidelines for Distinguishing Cartographic Electronic Resources from other Electronic Resources from the Library of Conress's MARC Office
• ISBD(CM):International Standard Bibliographic Description for Cartographic Materials from IFLA
• Oregon State University's Map Cataloging Tools Page
• See also the Cataloguing section on our Bibliographies page for the basic texts on map cataloguing
• Useful summary of the changes to genre/form subject headings for maps made by the Library of Congress in 2010

• The Institute of Conservation
• Suppliers - For conservation suppliers see the equipment and supplies page
• Queries on conservation or preservation can be placed on the Conservation DistList, an international listserv at Conservation OnLine
• The Digital Preservation Coalition
• ERPANET is concerned with approaches to existing and future digital preservation problems.
• Preservation Leaflets from Northeast Document Conservation centre
• Conservation Register from the Institute of Conservation to help you find qualified conservators / restorers in the UK and Ireland

Page last updated: 1/3/13