History of Map Cataloguing

Even though maps have been used throughout history, they have not been well organized or catalogued until relatively recently. Historical studies of early libraries neglect mentioning maps as being included in collections, which corresponds to a void in early library catalogues. The lack of evidence of maps in early libraries does not necessarily indicate that these libraries did not contain maps. Maps were often treated as ephemera materials, and may have ,"slipped through the bibliographic cracks", being organized by means other than the bibliographic control systems that existed at the time. Maps may not have been catalogued as separate, distinct items since they were not meant to be used separately from books (Lubas, 2003, 439). By the end of the 18th century, the number and types of thematic maps being produced increased. As usage of maps grew, the need for better organization of cartographic resources began to be apparent. This trend happened slowly and cataloguing and classification attempts only really began at the beginning of the twentieth century (Lubas, 2003, 437, 439).

Maps were initially arranged by area in early map catalogues. Harvard University, which in 1831 became the first American institution to create a map catalogue, began to catalogue maps by subject in 1887 (Ohanley, http://www.slais.ubc.ca/people/students/student-projects/S_Ohanley/...). Thomas Letts recommended in Library Journal in 1902 some recommendations designed to make cataloguing of maps more practical. He advised that the title of the map should be written on the catalog card, and if there was no title one should be supplied. Letts did not emphasize recording the names of individuals responsible for creating maps as maps were to be catalogued under title and not under author. Dates were important to record due to chronological arrangements of collections. Dates were estimated if they were unknown. Letts also advised cataloguing the engraving process. If the cataloguer did not have the resources or time to fully catalog a map collection, Letts advised that maps simply be organized by region, name of country, date, and style of mounting (Lubas, 2003, 443).

In 1908, the American Library Association and British Library Association jointly decided to use author and title entries as the main entry points for the majority of library material. This standard, however, was not conducive for map collections. Searching for a map by author, which would usually be a cartographer or corporate body, is not comparable to searching for a monograph by author. Map cartographers are not always identified, nor are they remembered by their names. Governments and some corporate bodies may be well-known, but as they produce maps on such a large scale author access is impractical (Ohanley). The 1910 Library of Congress Catalog included headings for maps but they were largely under-developed and insufficient (Shawa, http://www.princeton.edu/~shawatw/classifi.html). The Library of Congress's classification of maps did not lend itself well to collocation of maps in collections. Thus, many libraries at the time decided to arrange their map collections with specially developed classifications systems (Ohanley).

Boggs & Lewis is one of the most well-known special classification systems designed for arranging maps. Samuel Whittemore Boggs addressed the American Geographical Society in 1937 regarding the need for a new classification system (Boggs, 1937, 49). In 1945, Boggs, with Dorothy Cornwell Lewis, published The Classification and Cataloging of Maps and Atlases (Lubas, 2003, 444). Boggs advocated that maps be arranged by area. He also placed subject and author/publisher ahead of date for subordinate arrangement. Boggs stated that one advantage of his classification system was that it was far simpler than Dewey or Library of Congress (Boggs, 1937, 94).

Today, the primary access points for maps continue to be geographic area and subject (Tenner, 1998, 183). Online library catalogs (OPACs) allow users to locate maps through keyword searching. Capabilities for retrieval have improved and it is now possible to search beyond author, title and subject information. OPACs have thus rendered the issue of main entry less important. Although main entry is less important, many of the other unique issues that led to the treatment of maps in early libraries and to Boggs & Lewis developing their own system persist to this day, continuing to make cataloguing maps a challenging undertaking for any library.


"History of Map Cataloguing " Bibliography

Boggs, S. Whittemore. "Library Classification and Cataloging of Geographic Material". In Annals of the Association of American Geographers June 1937, no. 2 (49-94).

Lubas, Rebecca. "The Evolution of Bibliographic Control of Maps".Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 35, no. 3/4 (2003): 437-446.

Ohanley, Suanne. "A Brief History of Map Cataloguing". In Providing Access to Cartographic Materials. 2001. Accessed March 16, 2005. <http://www.slais.ubc.ca/people/students/student-projects/S_Ohanley/...>

Shawa, Tserin Wangyal. The Library of Congress Classification Scheme for Cartographic Materials. 1998. Accessed March 14, 2005. <http://www.princeton.edu/~shawatw/classifi.html>

Tenner, Elka and Katherine Weimar. "Reference Service for Maps: Access and the Catalog Record". Reference & User Services Quarterly 38, no. 2 (1998): 181-186.

 

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