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Chris was one of 5 participants this year; the others were from the University of Texas at Arlington, University of Georgia, Auburn University, and Penn State University.  Their schedules consisted of working on various projects for four days a week, and choosing maps for our own libraries from the Division’s duplicate map collection one day a week.

Chris' assignment was to assist in the processing of a large gift of maps (about 100,000) from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA).  These maps were originally randomly loaded into eight large boxes (about 4 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet).  They had sat in a warehouse in Yuma, Arizona for months before arriving at the Library of Congress, so he was warned to look out for snakes and scorpions (he found none).  Chris emptied all eight boxes and separated the maps by country or region.  Four student workers and he checked these maps versus the collection with our concentration placed on checking the set maps (groups of like maps covering a specific geographic area, e.g. the USGS topos).  They added new sheets when appropriate and placed the remainder in the duplicates collection.  These efforts took place in a large room full of the set maps (numbering over 2,000,000).  The temperature of the room hovered around 58 F.  The work was not particularly challenging or interesting, but, as they say, “It had to be done.”  The other interns performed equally mundane projects such as database entry.

The selection of maps from the duplicates collection was exciting.  The treasures hidden within were wondrous.  Of the five interns, Chris was unique in that he ran his own collection.  Two of the others were catalogers, one was a geoscience librarian, and the other was a library technician.  Consequently, he had the best understanding of his own library’s collection and the needs of its patrons, thus was able to select material more appropriate to our collection.  In five days of selecting, Chris was able to pull approximately 7,000 maps and atlases (1,700 pounds).  

Chris successfully lobbied Representative Tancredo and Senator Campbell to pay for the postage on the 22 large, 1 medium, and 4 boxes of maps.  At the beginning of the Project, the Summer Project participants were informed that this was impossible, but Chris gave it “the old college try” and it worked.

The Geography and Map Division

The collection at G&M is awe-inspiring.  It contains more than 4.8 million maps (CSM has 190,000).  It takes up an area a city block long (and you can see from end to end) and about as wide as our Library.  Because of its size, it has incredible things .  The items within the Division’s doors are as mind-blowing as you would expect.  They have George Washington’s maps, topographic coverage of the world at such detail that one would have to visit the place to see it better, and the first map to have the word “America” on it.  The last was a recent acquisition costing $10,000,000.   All maps being added to the collection are put through a conservation process, encapsulated in mylar, and placed in their own acid-free folder.

Tours

Chris and his fellow participants were taken on tours of the National Geographic Society, the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, USGS in Reston, Virginia, and two the Library of Congress itself.  

The Library Congress is a fabulous place.  If you haven’t been, GO!  The Jefferson Building is the most ornamental and beautiful building in DC.  Its lobby, Great Hall and Reading Room are something to behold.  They were able to go into the Main Reading Room.  The stacks are precisely like you would imagine them—big, dark, full, confusing.  In fact, it is said that James Billington, The Librarian of Congress, often gets lost in the Library.  (He was actually seen in the tunnels and he did look confused.)   The group was told that only 1 person has been murdered in the Library, but no one expounded on this.  Tunnels connect the three buildings that comprise the Library, as well as the rest of the buildings on Capitol Hill.  There were times one felt that if you made a wrong turn you would wind up at the Lincoln Memorial.  Once, while walking under the Capitol, Chris took a wrong turn and wound up in a walk-in freezer.  LC has it’s own snack bar and cafeteria.  The group often ate there as well as at the cafeteria at the Longworth House of Representatives Office Building.

The group visited the National Geographic Society.  The folks there were proud to show us their new studios for the National Geographic Channel.   It was beautiful and impressive (40 miles of cable).  The group briefly toured the rest of the buildings, including the library (which is tiny), the Board Room, and the cartography section.  The visit was nice, but we spent too little time with the cartographers.

The group also toured the National Archives in College Park, Maryland.  It is a huge facility with awesome environmental and security controls.  All of the map cases are on compact shelving.   The current high-use items are the aerial photographs shot by the Nazis during WWII.

Our visit to USGS involved hilarity.  Basically, our bus driver got lost and was unwilling to the take advice of a bunch of Map Librarians.  Consequently, the group arrived 1.5 hours late and was given a rush tour.  They were shown the library—it is more impressive than the Fed Center’s.  The Group was also given tours of the Center for Integration of Natural Disaster Information (CINDI), and the printing operations.   CINDI was very cool—modern, hi-tech, etc.  The printing operations were amazing.  We got lost driving back to LC.

List of Sets of Maps Acquired from LC

All maps are topographic in nature unless noted.  Assume that all sets INCOMPLETE.  For more information on which sheets the CSM Library owns, see our catalog, Catalyst.