Using Interlibrary Loan to Borrow Maps

Sharing Maps with Interlibrary Loan

University Libraries’ Interlibrary Loan service allows Ball State University faculty, staff, and students to borrow materials available at other libraries while users in other locations are able to borrow materials from University Libraries. Items may be located using CardCat, University Libraries’ catalog, and ILLiad, the Interlibrary Loan program.

Over the last seven years, the number of maps borrowed using Interlibrary Loan has increased five times. In 1999, 10 maps were borrowed from the Geospatial Center & Map Collection; last year 50 maps were borrowed through Interlibrary Loan by library users from other institutions. As more maps in the Collection are cataloged and accessed through CardCat, the number of maps borrowed through Interlibrary Loan is bound to increase. For example, the maps of the Middle East were cataloged in 2001 at the onset of the war in Afghanistan. Since that time, over thirty different maps of the Middle East have been shared through Interlibrary Loan, plus an entire set of topographic maps of Syria that were requested from the University of Notre Dame.

The list of institutions borrowing maps from the GCMC through Interlibrary Loan is diverse and geographically widespread. The University of Montana at Mansfield has become a regular customer, borrowing a number of different maps from the GCMC. The other four major Indiana colleges have also requested maps through Interlibrary Loan—Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University, and Indiana State University. Also, institutions with strong map collections have borrowed maps from the Collection at Ball State University: The University of Texas at Austin borrowed a 1683 map of Philadelphia and a map showing the world’s religions and missions. The University of Wisconsin at Madison borrowed a geologic tectonic map of the Caribbean from the GCMC.

Other institutions requesting maps from the GCMC: Vassar College, Brown University, George Washington University, Mississippi State University, University of Oregon, Savannah College of Art and Design, and the State University of New York at Oswego are some examples. The University of Arizona borrowed topographic maps of Arizona from the GCMC through Interlibrary Loan. Baruch College in New York, New York requested a 2000 bird’s-eye-view map of New York. The University of New Orleans used Interlibrary Loan to borrow a 1929 map of New Orleans that was in the Collection. And Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California and Lafayette College in Pennsylvania each borrowed the same map from the GCMC showing cultural activity and religions.

A number of government agencies have also requested maps from the GCMC via Interlibrary Loan. The Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago, through a recommendation of the GCMC Collection from Newberry Library, has borrowed maps on a couple of occasions. The office requested current and historic maps of Indiana highways, Elkhart, Muncie, and Terre Haute. The Environmental Protection Agency in New York also borrowed a map of the Capital district and Albany, New York from the GCMC. The U.S. Army Engineering Center in Alexandria, Virginia borrowed a 2002 map of the Croatian coast through Interlibrary Loan. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in Madison borrowed a map of the Massif of Mt. Hubbard. And the National Imagery and Mapping Agency offices in Bethesda, Maryland and St. Louis, Missouri requested maps of the Ukraine and Lebanon from the GCMC.

Interlibrary Loan allows University Libraries to share materials with library users around the country, including academic libraries and public libraries. And the GCMC enjoys sharing maps from the Collection with other library users. To find out more about using Interlibrary Loan, please visit http://www.bsu.edu/library/collections/ill/ or contact the Interlibrary Loan office during regular business hours Monday through Friday at 765-285-1324.