Finding Maps

Maps can be found in a number of places in the libraries. When looking for a map it is important to consider the level of detail required and how up-to-date the source of the map will need to be. Some suggestions on locating maps in the ASU Libraries are given below.

ASU Libraries' Map Collection

Located on the Third Floor of the Daniel E. Noble Science and Engineering Library, it contains over 200,000 maps, 15,000 aerial photographs, 2,800 atlases, gazetteers and books related to maps and cartography and 250 CD-ROMs containing digital spatial data. The majority of the maps and some of the CD-ROMs in the Collection do circulate; aerial photographs, atlases and books in the Collection do not circulate. The Map Index contains records on more than 95% of the maps available in the Collection. Each record in the Map Index includes information on the title, author, date, scale, subject and the geographic area covered by each map or map set. Holdings for map sets and series in the Map Collection are available on paper indexes in the Collection. The Index also contains records for historical maps in the Arizona Collection and Arizona Historical Foundation and for maps in the Labriola Native American Data Center. The atlases, books and reference materials in the Map Collection can be searched using the ASU Libraries' Online Catalog.

Outline Maps

Outline maps show basic information about an area, such as the counties in a state, the provinces or administrative regions in a country, the countries on a continent, or the entire World. Because they show only the basic boundary information, they can be used as base maps to plot additional data. The ASU Libraries' Map Collection, on the Third Floor of the Daniel E. Noble Science and Engineering Library, has several collections of outline maps for US States (State Maps on File Map Collection G 1200 .F3 1984) and countries of the World (Maps on File Map Collection G 1046.A1 M16). The Central Intelligence Agency publishes maps of the World each year, and also publishes maps of various countries, continents and regions of the World. The Map Collection staff also can assist users in producing outline maps using the Collection's geographic information systems (GIS) workstations and software.

Atlases

Atlases, books of maps, can be found using the ASU Libraries' Online Catalog. Do a keyword search on the word "maps" or "atlases." The search can be limited to a specific geographic area by adding a term such as "Europe" to the search request. A few general atlases can be found at both the Hayden Library and Noble Library Reference Desks. Historical atlases contain maps that show historical information. They can be found using the ASU Libraries' Online Catalog. Do a keyword search for "historic* atlas*." The asterisk (*) tells the computer to search for either the singular or plural forms of the keywords.

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias can be a good source for basic maps of countries and states. An online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, accessible for on-campus use, contains maps. International encyclopedias can also be a good source for maps showing political subdivisions in the country of publication. General encyclopedias from the United States and various countries around the world are located in the libraries' reference collections.

Almanacs

Almanacs often contain basic maps of the world. Because almanacs are published annually, they can be a good source of information on country name changes. Almanacs can be found using the ASU Libraries' Online Catalog. Use the keyword search option to search for "almanac*." The asterisk (*) tells the computer to search for either the singular or plural forms of the keyword. Almanacs are located in the libraries' reference collections.

Need more help finding maps? Ask a Librarian!