Maps and Geospatial Resources: Home

This guide provides links to some key mapping tools. It is by no means complete or even representative of a serious map collection and service.

There are links to U.S. Government maps, historical map collections, online mapping databases, and some commercial products.

Forr serious mapping and GIS support you will need to consult researchers working with local materials and more powerful software tools.

Gazetteers

• USGS Geographic Names Information System
  Database of millions of physical and cultural geographic features in the US. For non-US geographic features, use GEOnet Names Server.
• U.S. Gazetteer
  This database, from the U.S. Census Bureau, is searchable by name, state abbreviation, or zip code and contains geographic information, maps, and census data.

Maps

   General

• The National Map of the United States of America
  The National Map is intended to provide a comprehensive, map-like view into the enormous wealth of data collected by the Federal Government.
• The Atlas of Canada
  A collection of maps and related information about Canada.
• Topo maps of Russia
  A collection of topographic maps of Russia.
• National Geologic Map Database
  A standardized archive of national geologic data with innovative interfaces -- browse by stratigraphic feature or by regional map views.
• National Geographic Maps and Geography
  National Geographic's subject guide for maps and geography
• The David Rumsey Collection
  The historical map collection has over 27,800 maps and images online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia, and Africa are also represented.
• Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection
  A large collection of online maps from The University of Texas at Austin.
• OpenStreetMap
  Crowd-sourced free world map showing local information.
• Online Map Creation
  Creates maps showing topographic, political, and tectonic features.

   Historical

• Early World Maps
  A collection of early maps showing the evolution of both discoveries and cartographic techniques.
• Library of Congress, American Memory: Map Collections: 1500-2004
  Focusing on Americana and "cartographic treasures," this large collection of maps covers the 16th century to the present day.
• New York Public Library digital map collection
  The Lionel Pincus & Princess Firyal Map Division provides more than 20,000 public domain historical cartographic works as high resolution downloads.
• Maps That Changed Our World 
  A digital interactive project that highlights a handful of fascinating maps created over the past several centuries.
• ChronoAtlas 
  ChronoAtlas is a completely free and fully interactive historical atlas of the world. The site allows you to browse the entire globe at any point in history and see boundaries changing over time and cities and other features appearing on the map at the time they were founded. The site is also 100% interactive, you can contribute your own data: meaning your own cities, battles, and photos of historic places and events, and you can also draw boundaries of any historical kingdom you want, or edit those drawn by others if they are inaccurate.
• NOAA Office of Coast Survey's Historical Map and Chart Collection
  A wide variety of maps and charts from the late 1700s to the present.
• Historical County Boundary Maps
  Enter a PRESENT-day U.S. city, town, or county; you can even type a current day address or road name*. The year can be from the mid-1600s (depending on date of state formation) through the year 2000.
• Historical World Boundary Maps
  Enter a PRESENT-day Place and a HISTORICAL Year as early as 2000 BC, then hit the "Go!" button. The place you type must be a PRESENT-day city and country; or a present-day address or road name* with city and country. The year must be from 2000 BC through 2008 AD (use negative years for BC, such as -200 for 200 BC).
• Sanborn Maps of Illinois, 1867-1970
  Sanborn maps were originally created to help fire insurance companies determine the risks associated with insuring properties. These large-scale maps were drawn at a scale of 50 feet to an inch. Because the maps were created over a century, they are useful in charting the development of cities and towns over many years.
• Digital Scholarship Project
  Interactive maps showing various historical changes ... populations, voting, railroads, canals, etc.
• University of Chicago Press is pleased to present the first three volumes of the History of Cartography
• ORBIS (The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World) an interactive model of the Roman Empire that "reconstructs the time cost and financial expense associated with a wide range of different types of travel in antiquity," including movement by road, river, and sea with multiple travel modes available for each.

Local (Illinois)

• Illinois Department of Transportation - IDOT Mapping Information
  Highway maps, railroad maps, bicycle maps, future plans, and statistical data.
• Illinois Topo Map index an image showing the 7.5 Minute quads for the state
• Sanborn Maps of Illinois, 1867-1970
  Sanborn maps were originally created to help fire insurance companies determine the risks associated with insuring properties. These large-scale maps were drawn at a scale of 50 feet to an inch. Because the maps were created over a century, they are useful in charting the development of cities and towns over many years.
• Chicago Maps and Statistics

Topographic

• TopoZone
  A variety of maps for recreational and professional topographic map users.
• Maptech MapServer
  Provides topographic maps and charts for land, sea, and air.
• Online Map Creation
  Creates maps showing topographic, political, and tectonic features.
• Anyplace America
  Provides topographic maps for locations and geological features.
• Illinois Topo Map index an image showing the 7.5 Minute quads for the state

   Thematic/Alternative/Humorous

• Google Maps Gallery
  Popular maps demonstrating visual representations of thematic data. Also includes an explore option for browsing across Google subject facets (i.e. boundaries, culture & society, history, recreation, etc.) and a keyword search option.
• Mapping Stereotypes
  Humorous look at global impressions by Alphadesigner (Yanko Tsvetkov)
• Charles Booth's London Poverty Maps
  Search the catalogue of over 450 original notebooks from the Inquiry into Life and Labour in London (1886-1903), view 41 digitized notebooks and explore the London poverty maps.
• William Smith's Geological maps of England (1815)
• Mapping Views that Explain the World
  Washington Post article about World Views as shown by selected maps
• New York Times: A Map of Every Building in America  -- search and zoom in on buildings.
• Most Accurate Map Projection 
  AuthaGraph wins design award for accuracy
• National Parks
  • ​Library of Congress: Mapping National Parks documents the history, cultural aspects and geological formations of areas that eventually became National Parks. 
  • U.S.National Park Service: Find A Park is searchable by State, Topic, or Activity

The Essential Geography of the United States of America is located in the East stairwell, near the copy room.

This unique hand-drawn map visually emphasizes the basic layout of our country, which can increase the awareness and understanding of basic U.S. geographical features. The special demarcations and features more easily allows users to visualize where the people are, where the landmarks are, etc. Everything on the Essential Geography is clearly visible to the "average user". For example, the Essential Geography represents only the principal cities and towns of a given area, and place name density reflects localized variations in population density. In addition, state borders do not overlap with place names, and important places (i.e museums, geographical features, etc.) are listed in the region.

More information about the creation of this map.