Map Collection Research Guide

This guide provides an overview of the OSU Libraries map collection. Reference assistance is available at the Reference Desk on the main floor of The Valley Library, (541)737-7295. Assistance with locating and photocopying maps is available from the Archives and Maps Reference Desk on the 3rd floor during University Archives' regular business hours. Maps to be checked out should be taken to the Circulation desk on the 2nd floor.

For additional assistance please contact Andrea Wirth at or (541)737-9903.

Floor Plan, Valley Library 3rd Floor

Contents

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of maps does The Valley Library have?
All kinds! Road maps, geologic maps, soils maps, topographic and other maps showing physical features, political maps, bathymetric charts and many more covering all parts of the world and even other planets and star charts. The Valley Library is a federal depository library so we receive a lot of government maps, but we also purchase from commercial companies to try to give as much coverage as we can.

How are maps organized at The Valley Library?
For the most part, very much like other materials in the library. Many of our maps have entries either in the online catalog or, in the case of older materials, in the Maps card catalog (3rd floor, Maps & Government Publications). These give call numbers and location information. One of the easiest searches is to find maps using the place name as the subject (city, county, country, region, national forest, river, etc.) with --Maps or --Road maps or some other map designator (you can find more in the Library of Congress Subject Headings books).

For example, if you want a map of Eugene, you could perform a subject search for Eugene (Or.)--Maps; for a road map of Lincoln County you could do a subject search for Lincoln County (Or.)--Road map.. Subject or title keyword searching makes things easier if you are unsure about how to structure a search, so if for example you're looking for a fishing map of the Willamette River, a subject keyword search using the words fishing, Willamette River and maps may give you something useful.

What about atlases?
The Maps collection has several hundred atlases on the 3rd floor, all designated as Map Room Ref in thee online catalog. They can be found using the database and, like the maps, often have the place name in the subject.

May I check out the atlases?
No; they are a reference collection and do not circulate. However, there are some atlases in the general circulating collection; check the location codes in the online catalog for individual titles, because sometimes a reference atlas also has a circulating counterpart somewhere else in the library.

What about maps? May I check them out?
Most of our maps do circulate! Those that do not include various historic maps collections, Army Map Service maps and Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, as well as "storage" maps which are usually over 30 years old and beginning to deteriorate (see Map Collections for more information). This still leaves a large number of maps from the general classified (ie: maps organized by call number) collection and the entire collection of current 7.5-minute topographic maps of the United States.

So should I take maps I'd like to check out to Circulation?
Yes, maps are checked out at the Circulation Desk on the second floor. They are circulated in map tubes. Please don't fold maps, but keep them rolled in the map tube when not in use. Be sure to return the tube with the maps!

How long can I keep maps I check out?
Our checkout period is three weeks (with three renewal periods allowed) for every patron, regardless of his or her status (undergrad, grad, faculty, town patron, etc).

Sources of Geographic Information

City Maps (US and Foreign)

  • To see if we have a specific city map, look for [city name], [country (or state)]--Maps as subject in OASIS or the Maps card catalog in the Maps & Government Publications area. (For example, a map of Corvallis could be searched for as Corvallis, Or.--Maps.) They will have a call number for you to locate them by.
  • Official highway maps of many states often have city insets (and distance charts within the state); search in the online catalog with [state]--Road maps as subject for call numbers.
  • A distance and driving time chart for the U.S. as well as U.S. Railroad Distance Table can be found in the Rand McNally Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide. Don't forget the Rand McNally Standard Highway Mileage Guide for highway mileage between North American cities.
  • Goodes Atlas (Ref Map Room G1020 .G6 1991) and other Rand McNally atlases have metropolitan maps. For foreign cities, if OSU Libraries Online Catalog doesn't bring something up, we have some European road atlases.

Land Ownership (CADASTRAL)

  • The Metsker county atlases (at least one for each Oregon county, in shelving units on the west wall) give individual property owner names, but are not current (suggested for historical purposes only).
  • Some early Benton county maps have ownership information (in map storage cases; check card catalog for call numbers).
  • Some U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) maps indicate private, state, and public ownership. Check the online catalog or maps card catalog under subjects [state] -- Public Lands, Land -- [state] or Public Lands.

Outline Maps

  • In the online catalog or card catalog, look under the subject [state] -- Maps, Outline and Base.
  • For 8½ x 11" maps of the world, individual countries, or states, look in binders on the Map Reference shelves.
  • For 8½ x 11" state maps, the Cleartype Atlas of the U.S. is on the Map Reference shelves (Ref Map Room G1204 A1 A4).

County Boundaries

  • U.S. Geological Survey maps at 1:1,000,000 and 1:500,000 exist for each state. Look in the online catalog under [state] -- Maps, Physical or [state] -- Maps, Topographic (depending on what other information is needed) for call numbers.
  • U.S. Geological Survey also puts out maps of the entire United States showing county boundaries (G3700 1972 U5G4, 2 sheets).
  • Rand McNally Commercial Atlas (Ready Ref) has large maps that show county boundaries.
  • Hammond atlases are particularly good for administrative sub-divisions.
  • National Atlas of the U.S.A. (Ref Map Room G1200 .N21; oversize) has plastic overlays with county outlines.
  • Township Atlas of the United States (Ref Map Room G1204 A1 A6 1979) has maps of counties, as well as township & range, congressional and census districts, etc, for each state.
  • American Places Dictionary (Ref Map Room E154 A48 1994, 4 vols.) contains quite a bit of county information.

County Seats

  • Rand McNally Commercial Atlas (Ready Ref) has a chart for each state that gives counties and county seats.
  • Columbia Gazetteer of the World (Ref Map Room G103.5 C651 1998, 3 vols.) is one of the best sources of place information. Information is in dictionary form, and there is direct entry under county names; earlier editions for 1962 and 1880 are also on the shelf for historical information.
  • American Places Dictionary (Ref Map Room E154 A48 1994, 4 vols.) gives good county information including outline maps.

Township and Range

  • If your question is: Where is Section ??, Township ??, Range ??, find the appropriate state 1:1,000,000 or 1:500,000 map in the online catalog or card catalog (best) or the Township Atlas of the U.S. (Ref Map Room G1204 A1 A6 1979) and locate the general area of the specific Township & Range. Once the general area is known you can use one of several different options:
  • For Oregon places, you can pull individual Metsker county atlases for the appropriate county (in cases near west wall). While many of these atlases are rather old, the township/range information has not changed, and it is very clear and easy to read
  • There are state Metsker atlases for both Oregon and Washington in the atlas cases; in them is a map for each county in the state which shows township/range.
  • Some other county maps also show township/range (search [name] County, [state] --Maps or --Road maps in the online catalog to get call number).
  • U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps are very good sources for township, range and section numbers. Find the appropriate sheet using the index maps or by looking up the place name online in GNIS)
  • National forest maps (in OASIS, use the forest name as the subject) also show township/range, but it is usually best to utilize the U.S. Geological Survey maps first.

Highest and Lowest Points by State or Country

  • The National Atlas of the USA (Ref Map Room G1200 .N21; oversize) has this information in the back, just before the gazetteer.
  • World atlases give similar information for other countries.
  • Another source for world information is World Facts and Figures (G109 .S52 1979) which will tell you highest, lowest, warmest, coldest, wettest, driest, longest, largest, deepest, etc. by country. Also includes country and city population information. A more current edition is kept in the main floor Reference area.

Latitude and Longitude

  • For the latitude and longitude of specific places, use individual gazetteers by state (all but Oregon are now in the main stacks) or foreign country (search [state or country]--Gazetteers or Names, Geographical--[state or country]. The more current foreign gazetteers are on microfiche).
  • Some gazetteers in atlases give latitude & longitude.
  • The online Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) replaces the state gazetteers.
  • It is also possible to determine latitude and longitude from atlases, USGS topographic sheets, and other maps, but this is not generally as precise as consulting a gazetteer.

OSU's Map Collections

Oregon Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles

  • Digital orthophoto quads (DOQs) are available for all of Oregon. The CD-ROMs in this 526 CD set are available at the Circulation Desk. To determine which CD(s) to check out for a particular area, use the online index. The index is searchable by place name or longitude/latitude coordinates.

USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED)

  • The USGS Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data files that make up the National Elevation dataset are available for all of the conterminous United States, Alaska and Hawaii. The CD-ROMs in this 73 CD set are available at the Circulation Desk. To determine which CD(s) to check out for a particular area, use the online index map. Click on the area needed to get the call number for the CD containing the data.

Topographic Maps

  • U.S. Geological Survey 7.5' topographic maps ('topos') are arranged alphabetically by the name of the sheet within the appropriate state. To find the name of the sheet, you must use the topo map indexes for the state (on Reference shelves). Folders are indexed on the cards inside the lid of each case.
  • Special editions of national park topos are arranged by catalog numbers. To find the call numbers, look up the park by name in OASIS.

Aerial Photographs

Due to space limitations, the Valley Library only has air photos for the Willamette Valley to the coast, and because it is a gift collection, holdings are outdated and incomplete, and best used for historical research. (The University of Oregon Map Library collects for the entire state, but you must go to Eugene; they are not lent out.)

Mosaic or "index" books are kept in cases near the photo drawers on the west wall. The counties are identified by a three-letter code; the codes for each county, along with number of photos and years of our holdings, aree posted on this case. Only photos underlined in red (or highlighted in yellow) in the mosaic books are in the collection.

Actual photos are kept in locked gray map file drawers along the west wall in the department. You will need the name of the county, the year, and the photo id number from the index book (and the assistance of maps staff) to find them. They do not circulate, but you may make photocopies if you wish.

The Oregon Imagery Explorer serves Oregon's 2005 half-meter orthoimagery reconstructed from aerial photographs acquired in the summer of 2005. Other imagery including satellite data is also served. The original Oregon 2005 half-meter orthoimagery is in Digital Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ) format and has a spatial resolution of a half-meter.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

The Valley Library has the most complete collection of Sanborn maps for Oregon outside the Library of Congress. These are historical (1880s-1920s) detailed maps of downtown business areas of many cities in Oregon, even very small ones, showing locations of buildings and what type of business they were, materials they were built of, type of heating, etc: information insurance underwriters needed to make out fire insurance policies.

The collection is kept in locked map cases. A booklet explaining the colors and symbols used is in the collection (Description and utilization of the Sanborn map, 16 p., Ref Map Room GA325 S3).

Maps Information on the Internet

Maps

Nautical Charts

Electronic Atlases on the Web

Aerial Photography

  • Oregon Explorer Imagery Portal. The Oregon Imagery Explorer serves Oregon's 2005 half-meter orthoimagery reconstructed from aerial photographs acquired in the summer of 2005. Other imagery including satellite data is also served. The original Oregon 2005 half-meter orthoimagery is in Digital Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ) format and has a spatial resolution of a half-meter.
  • Historical Photography of Oregon: air photos of Oregon urban areas from the University of Oregon collection
  • Microsoft TerraServer: satellite imagery

Weather

Distance

Geographic Name

Federal Map Resources

Map Libraries on the Web

Map Publishers and Distributors