The University of Michigan houses the largest collection of maps and atlases in the state, and one of the largest at an academic institution. Faculty, staff, students, those not affiliated with the University-- everyone is welcome to take advantage of this collection for research or leisure. The collection is particularly strong in Michigan maps, Mediterranean maps, and maps of Japan, but there is a map for just about every occasion available!
The holdings include a wide range of cartographic materials, including maps, atlases, gazetteers, geographical dictionaries, and many reference works. Subject strengths include: aeronautics, archaeology, early and modern cartography, history of cartography, cartographic projections, celestial charts, climatology, cities, forestry, historical geography, political geography, geology, geospatial data, hydrology, land use, map catalogs, map collecting, mineral resources, mining, nautical charts, roads and views.
Though the University of Michigan began collecting cartographic materials in the early 1860s, the University of Michigan's 'Map Room' didn't come into existence until around 1904. It separated from its parent library even more and was moved to the 8th floor of the Hatcher Graduate Library in 1970. In late 2011 and early 2012, the Map Library moved again, down to the second floor of the Hatcher Graduate Library to join Government Documents and Spacial And Numeric Data Services in the brand new Stephen S. Clark Library!
During the academic year, from September through April, the Clark Library hosts an open house on each month's third Thursday. These Third Thursday events, which take place from 4-7 p.m., showcase some of the more interesting maps that fall into that month's theme. To get an idea of what kinds of themes have been selected in the past, check out the Third Thursday Archive.
To see blog posts from the Clark Library that focus on data visualizations and government documents, please visit http://clark-library.blogspot.com.
