Over the Winter 2014 semester, the University of Guelph Library will be undertaking a major review a

Over the Winter 2014 semester, the University of Guelph Library will be undertaking a major review and de-selection of our print maps and atlas collections, in order to: •   u of g  Identify items which are core to U of G’s teaching and research programs and therefore need to be retained •    Identify items which are outdated or no longer u of g relevant to U of G’s academic and research programs •    Minimize overlap of the print maps collection with the library’s GIS holdings •    Identify items which need preservation treatment and/or digitization Why are we doing this? Over the last decade, the library's print map collection has become increasingly out of date as this format has been replaced by GIS (Geographical Information Systems) and online data resources - the print maps are in fact very rarely used anymore. The federal u of g government, our largest supplier of print maps, closed down its print map depository services program in 2012, in keeping with the federal government's policy on publishing everything in electronic format. In the case of maps, both the federal government and the provincial government are releasing maps now almost solely in electronic GIS format, to make the integration of maps with other kinds of information and data easier. Consultations with faculty in the departments where maps are a core information source have indicated that GIS and data resources rather than print maps are strongly preferred for both teaching and research purposes. What will we be doing? We have identified the following categories of print maps as suitable candidates for withdrawal from our collections: •    Print maps which duplicate electronic GIS and/or u of g data resources, or which have been superceded by more recent print maps •    Print maps which have information which is clearly outdated •    Print maps which are not relevant to Guelph’s current curriculum and research programs •    Duplicates/multiple copies u of g of the same print map We will, however, be keeping all of the maps which are needed to support u of g U of G’s current curriculum, and those maps that relate closely to our areas of specialization and to our stewardship responsibilities within the province and the City of Guelph. These kinds of maps will include: •    Maps for the local area (Guelph, Wellington County, the Grand River watershed) •    The National Topographic Series of maps for Southern Ontario •    Maps (especially for Ontario or Canada) relating to Guelph’s historical curricular and research strengths: o    Agriculture (soil maps, land cover, land use, land capability, crops, temperature and growing season ranges) o    Forestry o    Environmental science maps (wildlife ranges, hydrology, tectonics, watersheds, climate change, climate research – especially u of g in Canada u of g or the developing u of g world) •    Maps used for the study of history (relating to the History department’s current curriculum) •    Maps which might be deemed rare – these will receive preservation treatment if needed •   u of g  Maps which need to be digitized u of g in order to preserve them or to make them more widely accessible If you have any questions about the project, please contact Helen Salmon, Information Resources Librarian and Project Manager, at ext. 52121 or hsalmon@uoguelph.ca u of g .  
Last updated September 30th, 2008 by W.J.