Collection Development Policy
The Map Library is the main map collection for the University of Colorado Libraries and houses approximately 200,000 maps, 500 atlases and a growing collection of digital spatial data.
The Map Library is a full Federal Depository Library and the majority of our maps are acquired through the Federal Depository Library Program from agencies such as USGS, BLM, U.S. Forest Service, Department of Transportation, NGA (formerly NIMA, DMA, and AMS), and CIA.
The Map Library collection also contains Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of Colorado, historical aerial photographs of Colorado, many facsimiles of historical maps, print satellite images, topographic maps on CD-ROM, and digital geospatial data. The digital data collection is founded on reference GIS datasets: the ESRI base datasets, the USGS/AGI Global GIS datasets, DOQQs for much of the Front Range of Colorado, DRGs for all of Colorado , and DEMs for the entire U.S. . The collection also contains thematic and more detailed data for certain areas.
U.S.Geological Survey Maps
The Map Library houses the
entire U.S.
Geological Survey 7.5 minute
topographic map series
as well as the 1:100,000 and
1:250,000 scale topographic
series, and thematic (geologic)
maps series. Older editions
of USGS topographic and mining
area maps (from the 1880s through
the 1960s) are also available
for all states. The 1:50,000
and 1:100,000 scale county
map series are available for
Colorado (in full) and a few
other states.
Subject Areas
The Map Library collection covers a broad range of subject areas including geography, geology, history, architecture/urban planning, environmental studies, genealogy, travel, and recreation.
Web Resources
We have put together an extensive list of links to online maps, GIS data, and maps reference resources. Please see our Web Resources section.
Read more about our collection in the Map Library Collection Development Policy.
Access to the Map Library Collection
The Map Library's collection is only partially cataloged; about 50% of the maps can be accessed through the Libraries' catalog, Chinook. Begin searching in Chinook and if you do not find what you need, please ask the Map Library staff. (Look here for tips on searching for maps.) Most of the maps in the Map Library collection can be checked out. Please see our circulation policy for more details.
