An Academic Library Map Collection Pathfinder
by Tassanee Chitcharoen

December 2008

The purpose of this pathfinder is to help students, faculty, other library staff, and the public in locating map/GIS resources. This list includes useful online map sources in this library as well as from government agencies and commercial cartographic websites. This annotated list is not meant to be inclusive of all resources, but does provide a variety of useful map resources available online for your convenience.

The University Catalog

Except for USGS topographic map series and nautical maps, all maps in the collection (old maps, aerial photos, rolled wall maps and vertical files) are cataloged. Please use the Library’s catalog to locate maps. Search by subject and then limit to format maps.

In the Map Room, cataloged maps are filed by call number and are kept in map drawers. Oversized maps are kept in barrels. Maps designated as Old Maps are in a locked case and must be requested at the Map desk. USGS topographic maps are filed alphabetically by map name within each series. Indexes are available to help with determining the map name.

Available GIS Data
GIS datasets available are acquired through the Federal and State Depository library programs or purchased selectively. Most are for use with ArcView or ArcInfo. Data may be located by searching the catalog.

Accessing GIS Data
There are 2 GIS workstations available to students, faculty, researchers and staff for use of a maximum of 2 hours per day. Workstations have the full suite of ArcGIS Desktop 9.2 software and more. For general information on GIS visit the USGS's Geographic Information Systems or the library center for GIS.

California Aerial Photography
Available Aerial photo sets of the immediate area (Yolo, Sacramento, and Solano Counties) and a list of National forests from the 1970s can be found at: www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/govinfo/mapcollection/caaerial.php.

Online Map Resources

Online Atlases Census Data Gazetteers
US Government Sites World Maps Historic Maps
Physical Maps Street Mapping Sites Online Data Resources

ONLINE ATLASES

  • National Atlas of the United States
    www.nationalatlas.gov/ From USGS this is an online “companion” to the original National Atlas of the United States produced in the 1970s. From the main page users can learn about the atlas and get answers to their questions by using the buttons on the left side of the page. User can customize maps.
  • The Electronic Map Library
    130.166.124.2/library.html From the Department of Geography at CSU, Northridge. Contains links to numerous digital atlases created by Dr. William Bowen covering many locations in California as well as major metropolitan areas throughout the United
  • WorldAtlas.com
    www.graphicmaps.com/aatlas/world.htm Provides general information on countries or regions. It also has links to other resources both commercial and non-commercial.
    Return to table of contents.

    CENSUS DATA

  • U.S. Census Bureau
    www.census.gov/ Homepage for the U.S. Census Bureau and a gateway to all available census statistical data.
  • U.S. Census Bureau Geography Page
    www.census.gov/geo/www/ Census data for the U.S. specific to geographic and cartographic research:
  • Tiger – Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing
    www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/ This is the Census bureau’s digital database of files for geographic features in relationship to census data. These files can be used with GIS software.
    Return to table of contents.

    GAZETTEERS

    Gazetteers are valuable for historic and geographic related research. They can help users locate basic geographic information on cities, places, mountains, and other geographical features as well as assist in identifying changes in place names over time. The content of gazetteers can vary widely but most entries are brief and provide a physical description of the locale or feature and can include information such as elevation, latitude/longitude, and average temperature/precipitation.

  • Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online
    uclibs.org/PID/23138 Geographic database of over 165,000 entries including place-names, physical characteristics and attributes, political properties, economic parameters, and natural and agricultural resources. Global in scope, updated monthly. For UC Davis only…change to: Subscription needed.
  • World Gazetteer
    www.world-gazetteer.com/ Gives the country, province, population, coordinates, population rank among all towns within the country for each country it gives a map and table of provinces with area and population, a map of cities, an alphabetical table of cities, and a table of top cities - tables can be sorted by a column of choice. For each province it gives an alphabetical table of cities.
  • National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: GEOnet Names Server
    earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/ Provides access to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names' (US BGN) database of foreign geographic feature names.
  • U.S. Gazetteer via the Census Bureau
    www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer This gazetteer is used to identify places to view with the Tiger Map Server. Search for places, counties or MCDs by entering the name and state abbreviation (optional), or 5-digit zip code
  • Geographic Names Information Server (GNIS)
    geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/ Contains information about physical and cultural geographic features of all types in the United States, associated areas, and Antarctica, current and historical, but not including roads and highways. The database holds the Federally recognized name of each feature and defines the feature location by state, county, USGS topographic map, and geographic coordinates. Other attributes include names or spellings other than the official name, feature designations, feature classification, historical and descriptive information, and for some categories the geometric boundaries.
  • Geoscience Australia: Place Names Search
    www.ga.gov.au/map/names/ The Gazetteer of Australia 2006 contains more than 322,000 geographic names in Australia provided by members of the Committee for Geographic Names in Australasia.
  • Canadian Geographical Names
    geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/search/index_e.php Type the name of a city, town, lake (or any other geographical feature), specify the type of feature you are searching for and the Province or Territory where it is located, and click "Submit Query". This will send a query to the CGNDB and return a list of places or features with the name you specified.
  • Index of German-Polish and Polish-German Names of Localities in Poland and Russia
    www.atsnotes.com/other/gerpol.html Index contains Polish and previous German names of localities situated in Poland and Russia useful for research, history, genealogy, numismatics, philatelic etc.
  • HomeTownLocator Gazetteer - US physical and cultural features, Census 2000 data
    www.HomeTownLocator.com/ Profiles for 179,000 cities, towns, neighborhoods and subdivisions. Maps, data and directions for 1.8 million physical, cultural and historical features.
  • American FactFinder:
    factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en Obtain data in the form of maps, tables, and reports from a variety of Census Bureau sources. From the Main Page find links to data in American FactFinder and other Census Bureau sites.
    Return to table of contents.

    US GOVERNMENT SITES

  • Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
    geonames.usgs.gov/redirect.html Provides a searchable database for U.S. geographic feature names approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. Contains almost two million physical and cultural geographic features at U.S. locations.
  • NGA GEOnet Names Server (GNS)
    earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/ Official repository of standard spellings of all foreign names sanctioned by the US Board on Geographic names. The database contains variant spellings (cross-references) which are useful for finding purposes. Database can be used for establishing official spellings of foreign names, cartography, GIS, GEOINT and finding places.
  • National Ocean Service
    www.nos.noaa.gov/ An agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the service produces nautical and aeronautical domestic charting.
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
    www.noaa.gov/ Agency that provides weather forecasts, climate monitoring, emergency weather related information and satellite data to monitor the Earth.
  • U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
    www.usgs.gov/index.html U.S. government agency that provides mapping and information on biology, geology, and water. It serves as an independent fact-finding agency investigating natural resource issues.
    Return to table of contents.

    WORLD MAPS

  • The CIA World Factbook
    https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ This site provides basic geographic, political and economic information for individual countries as well as simple high quality color maps of individual countries and reference maps for regions of the world.
  • United Nations Cartographic Section
    www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htm Provides access to more than 100 non US general political maps organized by regions and country. It also has thematic maps and detailed topical themes such as new political/cultural boundaries, membership in the United Nations etc. Unique feature is the “peace keeping maps” showing current location of UN peace keeping operations around the world.
  • Embassy World
    www.embasyworld.com/maps/maps.html Provides access to numerous map resources sorted by country. It gives a list of Internet sites containing maps and geographic data about the country. Content vary from regional maps that include the country of interest to detailed street mapping sources. Site can also be used to access information on various embassies.
    Return to table of contents.

    HISTORIC MAPS

  • The Library of Congress American Memory Map Collections
    memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html Provides access to digital representations of maps found in the Geography and Maps Division of the Library of Congress from 1500-1999. The digital collection is organized into 7 categories such as Cities & Towns, Conservation & Environment, Discovery & Exploration, Cultural Landscapes, Military Battles & Campaigns, Transportation & Communication and General Maps.
  • Library of Congress–Zoom
    lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/maps/ Provides access point to a select collection of digitized material from the American Memory Collection of maps from the Library of Congress geared toward K-12 students and educators. Contain as well as information detailing specific types of maps within each subdivision of this site.
  • Perry-Castañeda Library Map
    www.lib.utexas.edu/maps Maintained by the Univ. of Texas at Austin and provides electronic access to 5,700 maps for all regions of the world. Maps cover mostly the 19th and 20th centuries. Map images range from single sheet to multi-sheet images that can be manipulated with graphics software. Most maps are copyright free.
  • The David Rumsey Collection
    www.davidrumsey.com It is a growing collection of primarily18th and 19th century North and South American cartographic materials with approximately 11,000 maps currently available for viewing. Offers high quality digital images showcasing a variety of maps, atlases, globes, and other cartographic items. The collection is relevant for the study of history, genealogy, and family history.
  • Ancient World Mapping Center
    www.unc.edu/awmc/ Maintained by Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Provides set of maps available freely for educational use. Maps are available in multiple formats from standard .pdf to high-resolution .jpeg. Cartographic and geographic resources focus on material supporting scholarly work in the areas of ancient studies and are suitable for a wide range of users. Also provides access to information on updates to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World.
    Return to table of contents.

    PHYSICAL MAPS

  • Trails.com (formerly TopoZone)
    www.trails.com/ A commercial site (part of the USGS Digital Cartographic Business Partner program) that provides access to USGS quadrangle maps for personal use. Search by map name, by name of a city or place, or even by entering the name of a geographic feature.
  • Microsoft’s Terra Server
    terraserver.microsoft.com Provides free public access to maps and aerial photography of the United States. Users can view famous places or explore featured locations directly from the main page.
  • MapTech MapServer
    www.maptech.com/onlinemaps/ A commercial site that provides access to U.S. topographic maps, nautical charts, and aerial photos, called NavPhotos, which cover coastal regions exclusively. This site allows the user to search for maps by place name and state. Multiple map scales are available and placing your cursor over the map image will generate coordinates for that point on the map. This site also provides the option for purchasing data for download to PDAs and or personal computers for a fee.
  • USGS Publications Warehouse
    infotrek.er.usgs.gov/pubs Valuable source for locating a variety of technical publications (map series, bulletins, etc.) of the USGS. Includes 66,000 items including thematic maps, reports, and numbered series dating as far back as 1882. Current updates ranging from citations only to full-text content including maps. Great benefit to librarians and other library users because it is current and provides a single searching point for these types of documents. This is a great index to material found in your local government documents depository library. There are multiple searching options and tools for limiting searches within the advanced search screen.
  • Color Landform Atlas of the United States
    Fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/states.html Provides color images for each state in a variety of formats. Types of maps provided include topographic maps in shaded relief, county maps, black and white version of the shaded relief map, satellite images, the 1895 map of the state, and a postscript map intended for downloading and printing on a postscript printer.
  • National Geologic Map Database
    ngmdb.usgs.gov/ This is a useful geosciences resource which includes maps and related material in the fields of geology, hazards, earth resources, geophysics, geochemistry, geochronology, paleontology, and marine geology. The USGS in cooperation with State Geological Agencies provides a bibliographic catalog of resources on a wide range of topics from across the U.S. including 2,000+ online images ready for viewing or download.
    Return to table of contents.

    STREET MAPPING SITES

  • MapQuest
    www.mapquest.com A commercial website that provides easy, clear instruction for generating a map of a city or acquiring driving directions between two points.
  • MapBlast!
    www.mapblast.com Maps addresses and cities, and provides driving directions with access to street level mapping for the U.S. and 15 Western European countries. The results window provides links to online information for traffic (accidents, construction, etc.) in major metropolitan areas, city guides, and weather via weather.com.
  • National Traffic and Road Closure Information
    www.fhwa.dot.gov/trafficinfo Provides access via list or interactive map to State Department of Transportation sites that provide traffic and road closure (weather, construction, and other reasons).
  • Multimap.com–Online
    www.multimap.com Maps to Everywhere provides some of the best coverage of European countries available online. Maps for some Eastern European countries tend to be less detailed than those for Western Europe.
    Return to table of contents.

    ONLINE DATA RESOURCES

    Aside from GIS data available at the library, data may be also downloaded from the Internet. Many government sites offer free data and some commercial sites offer data for a small fee. Some good places to look for free or inexpensive data include:
  • California Spatial Information Library (CASIL)
    gis.ca.gov/data.epl This state government site allows you to download free frequently used datasets for California, including vector data, DRGs, DOQs, and other image data.
  • California Environmental Information Catalog
    gis.ca.gov/catalog/ An online directory for reporting and discovery of information resources for California. Participants include cities, counties, utilities, state and federal agencies, private businesses, and academic institutions that have spatial and other types of data resources.
  • City of Davis — Mapping & Geographic Information Systems
    www.city.davis.ca.us/gis/ Online maps and downloadable digital layers for the City of Davis
  • Geodata.gov
    gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos U.S. E-Gov initiative to provide access to geospatial data and information
  • US Census Bureau's Cartographic Boundary Files
    www.census.gov/geo/www/cob/ Download boundary files that are selected generalized extracts from the Census Bureau's TIGER geographic database and are designed for use in a Geographic Information System (GIS) or similar mapping system.
  • ESRI's Downloadable Data site
    www.esri.com/data/download/ This commercial site has both free and for-fee downloadable files.
  • GeoCommunity
    data.geocomm.com The GIS DataDepot has numerous data holdings that are available for free download; additional data can be downloaded via a "Premium" option or written to CD-ROM for a fee.
  • The National Atlas of the United States
    nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html Downloadable map layers from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Most of the map layers were compiled at a scale of 1:2,000,000 and cover the full geographic extent of the United States of America, although some cover the conterminous United States only. Some map layers include Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
  • National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
    clearinghouse1.fgdc.gov/fgdc/EDCgateway.html The Clearinghouse functions as a detailed catalog service with support for links to spatial data and browse graphics. Participation in the Clearinghouse includes federal, state, university, and vendor participants in the United States and abroad.
  • University of Arkansas Libraries GIS
    libinfo.uark.edu/gis/us.asp Provide international and national geospatial links. U.S. resources are listed by state. Select the state and either geospatial data or attribute data.
  • University of Maryland, Global Land Cover Facility
    glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/data/ Provides satellite and satellite derived imagery and data.
  • USGS Geographic Data Download
    edc2.usgs.gov/geodata/ This website provides links to information on DEMs, DLGs, and land use/land cover data from the USGS.
  • Websites for Digital GIS Data
    www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/gis/web.html Stanford University's Branner Library, a site that provides many useful links to GIS Data resources.
    Return to table of contents.

    Visit Map Reference Service: A Guide for Non-Map Librarians or other LIBR220 student works at www.geospectra.net/220/projects.htm.

    Copyright 2008. Tassanee Chitcharoen. All rights reserved.