Map Collection and Cartographic Information Services Unit

Tips for Searching the UW Libraries Catalog
for Maps and Cartographic Materials

General Tips for Finding Maps and Atlases
 
Aerial Photography/Remote-Sensing Imagery
Base/Outline Maps
Geospatial Digital Data or GIS Data Layers
Geologic Maps
 
Historic Maps
Nautical and Aeronautical Charts
Place Names/Gazetteers
Road Maps
Thematic Maps
Topographic Maps

General Tips

Approximately 80% of the Map Collection is listed in the UW Libraries Catalog, so it is best to start your search for maps here.

Advanced search tips:

Aerial Photography/Remote-Sensing Imagery

Although our Washington State air photo collection is cataloged, most of the records contain little information other than the name of the project (usually a series of letters and numbers which is not highly descriptive) and the date. To search the catalog for aerial photographs, do a KEYWORDS search for your Washington county of interest and the phrase "aerial photographs."
Ex. King County AND aerial photographs

To search the catalog for digital aerial photography, do a KEYWORDS search and enter the phrase "electronic resource", your geographic area, and "doq*."
Ex. electronic resource AND Washington state AND doq*

To search the catalog for satellite photography, do a KEYWORDS search for "remote sensing images" and your geographic area.
Ex. remote sensing images AND Washington state

Base/Outline Maps

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) political and physical maps (in color) are located in the general map cases by call number. These maps do circulate and can be found in the UW Libraries Catalog by doing a KEYWORDS search for your country of interest and the phrase "Central Intelligence Agency."
Ex. Spain AND Central Intelligence Agency AND maps

Not all base maps have records in the catalog, so please ask the Map Collection staff for assistance if you cannot find what you are looking for.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

It is best to search the online catalog for digital mapping products or geospatial data not available through WAGDA.

  1. Use a KEYWORDS search.
  2. In the text box, enter the phrase "electronic resource", your geographic area, and a subject keyword if you are looking for something specific.
    Ex. electronic resource AND King County AND transportation

Geologic Maps
  1. Use a KEYWORDS search.
  2. In the text box, type in the word "geolog*" and your geographic area and "maps." The asterisk * tells the catalog to search for any word beginning with those letters.
    Ex. geolog* AND Uganda AND maps

Historic Maps
  1. Use a KEYWORDS search.
  2. Limit the Year fields to the range you are looking for.
    There are two caveats about using Year fields:
    • The year represents the year that a particular map was published. If the map is a reproduction of an older map, the date will be when the new map was published, not when the original was created.
    • The Year fields are not always reliable. They do not accurately sort any date which is uncertain (a date with a question mark: 1970?, a dash: 197-, or both: 197-?).
    If you cannot find what you are looking for, leave the Year fields blank and try again.
  3. Many historic maps are in Special Collections and other areas, not just in the Map Collection. Therefore, be sure to leave the Location field blank.
  4. In the text box, type in your geographic area and a subject keyword if you are looking for something specific and "maps."
    Ex. Year: 1800 1899
    Washington State AND railroads AND maps

Nautical and Aeronautical Charts

Charts are only listed in the online catalog by series name. Below is a list of links to the individual record for each series.

Place Names/Gazetteers
  1. Use a KEYWORDS search.
  2. In the text box, type in "gazetteers" and your geographic area.
    Ex. gazetteers and Africa
    gazetteers and France
    gazetteers and Washington State

Road Maps
  1. Use a KEYWORDS search.
  2. Because many road maps are considered general maps, they may not have the word "road" in the title or subject headings. In the text box, start by typing in your geographic area and "maps" or "atlases".
    Ex. egypt AND maps
    egypt AND atlases
  3. If this results in too many maps, narrow the search. In the text box, type in your geographic area and "maps" or "atlases" and "road* or street*". The asterisk * tells the catalog to search for any word beginning with those letters.
    Ex. germany AND maps AND road* OR street*
    germany AND atlases AND road* OR street*

Thematic Maps
  1. Use a KEYWORDS search.
  2. In the text box, type in your geographic area and one or more keywords related to your theme and "maps."
    Ex.
    demographic maps: population AND California AND maps
    seismologic maps: faults AND Seattle AND maps or earthquakes AND Seattle AND maps
    flood insurance maps: flood AND adams county AND maps or flood AND Seattle AND maps
    soil maps: soil survey AND King County
  3. Common topic keywords include the following:
    religion climate land use coloni** [colonization, colonies]
    tourist floods utilities geopolitics
    voting wildlife zoning discovery and exploration
    pollution wetlands divisions cartography
    population geology zip codes history
    topographic volcanoes railroads emigration and immigration
    military minerals navigation  
    political landslides roads  
      earthquakes    
      forests    
      soils    

Topographic Maps (Topos)

For topographic maps within the United States:

  1. If you know the name of the map sheet you are looking for, proceed to the next step. If not, you must first consult an index map. Index maps are available in the first drawer of each series. Ask Map Collection staff where the series you want is filed.
  2. Use a Title search.
  3. In the text box:
    • For topographic maps at the 1:24,000 scale, enter
      [state name] 7.5 minute series
    • For topographic maps at the 1:100,000 scale, enter
      30 x 60 minute series planimetric and topographic
    • For topographic maps at the 1:250,000 scale, enter
      United States 1:250,000
    • For Alaska topographic maps at the 1:63,360 scale, enter
      Alaska 15 minute series
    • For historic Washington state topographic maps at the 1:62,500 scale, enter
      Washington 15 minute series
    • For historic Washington state topographic maps at the 1:125,000 scale, enter
      Washington 30 minute series
    Some of these phrases may seem strange, but trust us—they do work!
  4. If the series is very large, your search result may show you several titles that match your phrase. These are all part of the same topo series, but because there are so many individual sheets they have been subdivided alphabetically into smaller groups by sheet name. Just click on the title with the alphabetic range that contains the sheet name you are looking for (which you identified in step one using the index map).
  5. Notice that some series have several locations, such as Maps Historic Map Cases, Maps U.S. Topographic, and Tacoma Reference. The sheets are listed by location first and then alphabetically by sheet name (call number). [See image below]
  6. If you know the name of the quadrangle you can avoid scrolling through the list by entering it in the text box (see the right arrow) and clicking on the  button to display only those that match. [See image below]

  7. After finding your call number and sheet name, ask Map Collection staff where the series you want is filed.

Some topos are not in the catalog, particularly historic topos for other states. Please ask Map Collection staff for assistance if you cannot find what you are looking for.

For topographic maps for countries other than the United States:

Our list of Topographic Map Sets will direct you to one or several series that cover your country of interest.

Last modified: Tuesday January 04, 2005

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