Maps Collections - Penn State - Maps & Geospatial: Maps - Library Guides at Penn State University

Maps Collections - Penn State

The Pennsylvania State University Libraries are home the largest map collection in Pennsylvania with over 337,000 sheets. The Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps and Geospatial Information is responsible for 300,000 of these maps. It has a selective housing agreement with the State Library of Pennsylvania and the FDLP and acts as the Regional Depository Library for maps in Pennsylvania. The Center concentrates on PA, US and world maps dating from about 1900 and forward, although it has a large collection of Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of PA. The Fletcher L. Byron Earth and Mineral Sciences Library concentrates on below ground maps useful. The Penn State Special Collections Library primarily hold rare maps prior 1900. Some maps can be found in the Digital Map Drawer.

The Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps and Geospatial Information
Holds topographic maps, nautical charts, tourist and road maps, globes, atlases, gazetteers, and more.
Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library
Pennsylvania Topographic maps as well as Geological maps.
Penn State Special Collections Library
Historical maps, from before 1900
Digital Map Drawer
Repository of the Libraries' scanned map collection.
Pennsylvania scanned maps in the Digital Map Drawer
Pennsylvania maps in the Digital Map Drawer that excludes Sanborn Fire Insurance maps and topographic maps
Index maps to map sets
Our collection includes many topographic map sets from all over the world. Some of the indexes can be found online. Our entire collection can be searched using the catalog or you can contact us directly.

How Maps are Organized

Our map and aerial photographs are organized by the Library of Congress Call Number system which groups maps by geographic area. ( then use information from this website.

Big Ten Geoportal - Maps and Geospatial Information from Penn State and other Big Ten institutions including Sanborn Fire Insurance maps

Search for Maps in the catalog

Search for, and request, maps across all Libraries' locations using The Catalog
Use keywords that answer the questions:
- What place do I want to see?
- What type of material (format) am I looking for?
- What type of map do I want? (topographic, tourist, etc.)

You can also limit your search by Format:

You can then limit by library location and/or date.

Tip! When you have located a map using the catalog, be sure to write down the entire call number and its location. If the map is located at a campus or branch other than the one you normally visit, you may request that it be sent to your location by clicking on the blue I Want It button or request a scan.

Maps in databases

Asia

Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan 1824-1922
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click on the "Maps" tap to see hundreds of map from Central Asia from the Silk Road to Soviet Rule.
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"This collection of Foreign Office files explores the history of Persia (Iran), Central Asia and Afghanistan from the decline of the Silk Road in the first half of the nineteenth century to the establishment of Soviet rule over parts of the region in the early 1920s. It encompasses the era of “The Great Game” - a political and diplomatic confrontation between the Russian and British Empires for influence, territory and trade across a vast region, from the Black Sea in the west to the Pamir Mountains in the east. Comprised of correspondence, intelligence reports, agents’ diaries, minutes, maps, newspaper excerpts and other materials from the FO 65, FO 106, FO 371 and FO 539 series, this resource forms one of the greatest existing sets of historical documents relating to this region, offering insights not only into the impact of Great Power politics on the region, but also the region’s peoples, cultures and societies."
China
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Select Advanced search and select "Document Type" as "Maps."
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This cross-searchable platform provides access to a vast range of primary sources relating to China's history, literature and culture. Spanning three centuries, the resources include rare printed books, pamphlets, manuscripts, diaries, newspapers and periodicals. These are supported by a range of incredible art works, illustrations and photographs. Modules in China Studies are: China, America and the Pacific; China: Trade, Politics and Culture, 1793-1980; China: Culture and Society.

Latin America and the Caribbean

World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbean
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Select "Advanced Search" and select "Document Type" of "Map."
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A digital collection of primary documents from the colonial period to the present, including early monographs, pamphlets, letters, expedition records, journals, reports, maps, diaries, descriptions of voyages, and newspaper accounts. Historical collections include: Bauza Maps and Manuscripts Collection; Brazil's Popular Groups, 1966-1986; Conquistadors: The Struggle for Colonial Power in Latin America, 1492-1825; The Yale University Collection of Latin American Manuscripts, Parts 1-7; Latin American and Iberian biographies; Mexican and Central American Political and Social Ephemera; Papers of Agustin de Iturbide, 1799-1880; Records of the U.S. State Dept.

Map and Cartographic Research

A selection of books from our catalog

A research guide to cartographic resources : print and electronic sources / Eva H. Dodsworth
Discovering and using historical geographic resources on the Web : a practical guide for librarians / Eva H. Dodsworth and L.W. Laliberté
Selected Gazetteers
Contains place names, physical features, population, etc. Excellent for historic research.

Penn State University Libraries

Maps & Geospatial: Maps

Map Specialist

Geospatial Services Librarian

Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps and Geospatial Information

Other Maps Guides

Maps Collections - Penn State

Search for Maps in the catalog

Maps in databases

Map and Cartographic Research