Assistance Available:

8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Monday - Friday
Reference: (303) 384-2367
Office: (303) 273-3697
Fax: (303) 273-3199
Email:

1) How do I find a geological map?

For an explanation of how to find a geological map, click here.

2) Does the Library have any maps of old mining claims?

Yes. The Map Room has an excellent collection of old mining maps of Colorado. Mining maps of other states and countries are vigorously collected, but are not as numerous as ones of Colorado.

The best way to find a mining map is to search the Library's on-line catalog, Catalyst.

To find a mining map, always start your search with the NARROWEST geographic focus; a search that is too geographically wide will yield many irrelevant items. If you are looking for a map of "North Table Mountain," begin your search with that term. If that fails, expand to the next widest geographic term, in this case, "Golden." If this proves unsuccessful, try "Jefferson County." If that does not acquire requisite information, use the search term "Denver Basin." If that search doesn't produce the information you need, try "Colorado." If you cannot find any items in Catalyst, or if you find too many items (over 10,000), see a librarian for guidance. WARNING: as you widen the geographic area of your search, the amount of detail that a particular maps shows will decrease.

Another place to look is in Mining in Colorado: A Selected Bibliography (call number TN24.C6 R66 1994) by Rosalia Rooney, the former Map Librarian at the Colorado School of Mines. THIS ARTICLE IS VERY OUT OF DATE!  A copy of this article is available on the Map Room Reference Table. Another copy is available on-line; click here to go to it.

3) Does the Library have any electronic maps?

Yes. The Library has a few maps including digitized topographic maps by Topo!, National Geographic, and DeLorme. The Library has some digital data produced by the Federal Government for maps including the Digital Line Graphs (DLGs), Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles (DOQs), Digital Raster Graphs (DRGs), TIGER files.

4) Does the Library have any road maps or tourist information?

Yes and NO. The Library does have a few STATE road maps its collection itself. HOWEVER, the only up-to-date road maps are of COLORADO.  These can be found by searching  Catalyst, the Library's on-line catalog. Do a WORD search using "road" and the name of the area you are seeking. The Library does NOT have any road maps for cities outside of Colorado.

There are also many good street maps available on the web, including Mapquest.

The Library does NOT collect tourist information. It is suggested patrons check the web for tourist info.

5) Can help me find this place? I have the name, but I do not know where it is.

To find where a place is located, you will need a gazetteer. A gazetteer is a dictionary of geographic places.

If you know the place you are looking for is in the USA, it is best and easiest to use Geographical Names Information Server (GNIS). This database is comprehensive, authoritative and easy to use. GNIS is available at:
 http://geonames.usgs.gov/

If you are looking for a place in another country, and do not know which country it is in, try the National Imagery and Mapping Agency's GEOnet Names Server at:
http://164.214.2.59/gns/html/index.html.  The Columbia Gazetteer of the World (call number "G103.5 .L7 1998", located in the Reference Room) is excellent but out-of-date.

If you do know the country that your place is located, use the gazetteers produced by the US Board on Geographic Names. These are filed by country name on the Map Room shelves with the call number "G105 .G3". Updates of some of the gazetteers are available on microfiche in the Government Publications section--call number "D 5.319:" Most of these gazetteers are out of date.

6) I am writing a report and would like to include a map. Does the Library have any simple maps that would look good photocopied?

The CIA produces excellent maps of a foreign countries. They begin with the call number "PREX 3.10/4:" and are located in the Government Publications stacks. In general, they are 8.5 x 11 inches. These maps may be checked out. Many of them have been scanned by the University of Texas at Austin and are available on-line at:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/Map_collection.html

Other simple maps of foreign countries can be found in Maps on File. This is located in the Map Room and has a call number of "G1021 .M33 1981".

Simple maps of US states may bee found in State Maps of File. These volumes are located in the Map Room under the call number "G1201 .S1 F3 1985". A variety of thematic maps for each state are available.

7) What does "scale" mean?

Simply defined, scale is the relationship between distance on the map and distance on the ground. A map scale might be given in a drawing (a graphic scale), but it usually is given as a fraction or a ration-- 1/10,000 or 1:10,000.

These "representative fraction" scales mean that one unit of measurement on the map--1 inch or 1 centimeter represents 10,000 of the same units on the ground. If the scale were 1:63,360, for instance, then 1 inch on the map would represent 63,360 inches or 1 mile on the ground (63,360 inches divided by 12 inches = 5,280 feet or 1 mile). The first number (map distance) is always 1. The second number (ground distance) is different for each scale; the larger this second number is, the smaller the scale of the map.

"The larger the number, the smaller the scale" sounds confusing, but it is easy to understand. A map of an area 100 miles long by 100 miles wide drawn to a scale of 1:63,360 would be more than 8 feet square! To make this map a more convenient size, either the scale used or the amount of area included must be reduced.

If the scale is reduced to 1:316,800, then 1 inch on the map represents 5 miles on the ground, and an area 100 miles square can be mapped on a sheet less than 2 feet square (100 miles at 5 miles/inch equals 20 inches, or 1.66 feet). On the other hand, if the original 1:63,360 scale is used, but the mapped area is reduced to 20 miles square, the resulting map will also be less than 2 feet square.

Such maps would be much handier. But would they be more useful? In the small-scale map (1:316,800), there is less room; therefore, everything must be drawn smaller, and some landmarks must be left out altogether. On the other hand, the larger scale map (1:63,360) permits more detail, but it also covers much less ground.

Many areas have been mapped at different scales. When choosing a map--that is, when choosing a scale--the most important consideration is its intended use. A town engineer, for instance, may need a very detailed map in order to precisely locate house lots, power and water lines, and streets and alleys in a community. A commonly used scale for this purpose is 1:600 (1 inch on the map represents 50 feet on the ground). This scale is so large that many features--such as buildings, roads, railroad tracks--that are usually represented on smaller scale maps by symbols, can be drawn to scale.

--from "Map Scales" by the National Mapping Program at the Earth Science Information Center (ESIC).

8) What types of maps are there in the Map Room?

The Map Room has a great variety of maps. The largest concentrations are geologic and topographic in nature. Other varieties include bathymetric, forest, ground water, hydrologic, metallogenetic, oil and gas, road, shaded relief, slope, soil, trail, and vegetation. The Map Room also has aeronautical charts. Finally, we have a few satellite images and aerial photographs. The Map Room does NOT have nautical charts nor road maps of cities outside of Colorado.

9) May I check out maps, atlases or cd-roms?

Yes. The vast majority of the maps, atlases, and cd-roms may be checked out in accordance with the Library's policies. Items located in the Map Room Office, reference materials and microfiche may NOT be checked out.

10) May maps be copied?

Yes. The Library has several copiers on the 2nd level. The Library does NOT have an engineering, or oversized, copier. In order to copy a large map, you can do it in pieces and then put them together. Or you may check out the map, and take it to a local copy store that has an engineering copier.

11) Where can I buy maps?

If you wish to purchase a general road map of a particular state or of the Denver region, try a local bookstore. Some larger stores have maps of foreign countries too.

There are several full-time map stores in the Denver Region. Some include Mapsco, Arwyn Map Co., and Crossroads Map Comapny--The Map Store. Mapsco is located at 800 Lincoln in Denver, phone (303) 623-4299. Arwyn Map Co. is located at 9065 W. 44th Avenue in Wheatridge, phone (303) 424-2864. Crossroads Map Company--The Map Store is located at 2717 E. Louisiana Avenue in Denver, phone (303) 733-2131.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sells maps. Their sales office is located at Building 810 at the Federal Center in Lakewood, phone (303) 202-4700. Or they may be reached by calling 1-888-ASK-USGS.

Acquiring maps of foreign countries can be difficult. There are 2 major map dealers in the United States that specialize in foreign maps, MapLink and Omni Resources. MapLink is located in Santa Barbara, California, phone (805) 962-0884. Omni Resources is located in Burlington, North Carolina, phone (800) 742- 2677.

Also look at our links page: http://www.mines.edu/library/maproom/buy_maps.html

12) What are the hours of the Map Room?

The office hours of the Map Room are Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm. The Map Room itself, and the Map Collection are open all hours the Library is open.

13) Does the Library give tours of the Map Room?

Yes. Tours are available on request. They may be for individuals, small groups, or whole classes. Tours can be tailored to a specific subject or geographic region. To arrange for a tour, please contact the Map Librarian at (303) 273-3697, or email cthiry@mines.edu

14) Does the Library have a Geographical Information System (GIS)?

No.  However, on campus in various computing labs, faculty and students have access to ArcGIS.  The Library does have a number of tutorial books about GIS, and books on GIS in general.  Search our catalog, Catalyst, for these items.

15) Can I get maps through Interlibrary Loan?

Yes. Maps at the Arthur Lakes Library are lent to other libraries in accordance with our Interlibrary Loan policies. To find out more about borrowing a map from our library, visit the IDS section of this web site.

Similarly, maps may be borrowed from other libraries in accordance with our Interlibrary Loan policies. To find out more about borrowing a map from another library, visit the IDS section of this web site.

16) How many maps does the Library have?

As of December 31, 2006, the Map Room has 208,674 maps and 6,782 books.

17) Is the Map Room the only place in the Library that has maps?

No. Certain rare and valuable maps are located in the Archive.

Other publications, in particular journals and bulletins of geological surveys, may contain maps. These items are be housed throughout the Library.