Subject list collections >
Map collection
1. Introduction
2. Subject Summary
3. A case study: townplan coverage
4. Collection profile by main subject and subclasses
1. INTRODUCTION
During the last quarter of 1995 Simone Meijer, a 4th year trainee of the Department of Cartography of
the University of Utrecht, has created the tables and maps for this collection profile. We have chosen
for choropleths for the maps of The Netherlands, while the maps of the world are anamorphic or diagrammatic.
This profile is based on a bibliography for the years 1975-1995, containing 37,645 descriptions and indexes on area and subject, which was produced by the CCK (the Dutch Union Map Catalogue). However, maps can depict more than one area and have more than one subject matter. This led to a count of more than 60,000 entries for the profile.
These were not our total holdings. Some 13,000 descriptions from the years 1983-1986 are still in the process
of being converted from
Pica (Project Integrated Cataloguing Automation) and there is a gap
for the years
1990-1992, of which up till now only half of all documents are described due to the publication of the new
national bibliography of cartographic materials. Because we select the cartographic documents according
to a specific programme we have the idea that the 37,645 descriptions are a fair representation of the total
collection, which amounts presently to some 57,000 descriptions.
In how far these descriptions are a true representation of the total amount of public cartographic materials
produced in The Netherlands should be a topic of future research and analysis. Though not based on research
we estimate the total public production to be between 20,000 and 25,000 items annually.
It should also be noted that large scale topographic maps, e.g. cadastral plans, are not part of the depository
programme.
2. SUBJECT AND AREA SUMMARY
The CCK-subject classification consists of 6 main classes, all of which were divided into 3 subclasses. For
identification we kept to the original CCK-class number (2, 4, 5, 6, and 8). Class 1 was not used, as this contains
only general information. Classes 3, 7 and 9 do not exist in the CCK-subject-classification.
The total amount of maps for The Netherlands and the world excl. The Netherlands is shown in the 'Table of the collection profile according to main subject'.
The total amount of maps per area is visualised in this diagramme map (345 Kb).
3. A CASE STUDY: TOWNPLAN COVERAGE
As part of the study we wanted to see whether there has been a shift in the coverage of townplans during
the period 1975-1995. But we soon found out that this was too ambitious. In 1975 there were 845 municipalities
and in the period up till 1996 these were reshaped into 633 new ones due to administrative
reorganisations. This sometimes led to new names, which made comparison of old and new situations
almost impossible.
Therefor we took the situation of 1995 as starting point. But we differentiated classes
of coverage:
The numbers for the table we got by autopsy, i.e. we physically counted townplans in the stock rooms. But we also had to look into the townplans themselves to see whether not more than one municipality was depicted, as usually happens with agglomerations. At the same time we marked down which company published the townplan. Those municipalities which showed no coverage were double-checked through the area-index of the bibliography. The resulting table, because of its length, does not give a good general outline of the situation. Therefor we decided to construct two maps, one for the coverage of the municipalities and one for the coverage of publishers. It took some time before Simone Meijer had converted an administrative map of The Netherlands from Atlas Gis to Aldus Freehand 3.1. The next stage took some days, but the resulting choropleth and distribution maps satisfied our expectations.
(larger image: 40 Kb)
Left: Townplan coverage of The Netherlands 1975-1995.
Right: Townplan coverage of The Netherlands by the two main publishers 1975-1995.
4. COLLECTION PROFILE BY MAIN SUBJECT AND SUBCLASSES
The profile consists of a case-study and then 5 sets of tables and maps, for each main subject two tables and
two maps (one for The Netherlands and one for the world excl. The Netherlands).
On the Dutch maps only the number of maps per province is indicated. The relation of the amount of maps for the whole of the provinces and The Netherlands as a whole can only be viewed in the table. The diagrammatic maps of the world contain a bar which shows the proportional amount of maps with a certain subject for The Netherlands and the world.
Class 1 of the CCK-subject-classification is not used in this profile. Classes 3, 7 and 9 do not exist in the CCK-subject-classification.
The tables and maps are organised per subject as follows. They can be retrieved by hyperlink.
Subject 2: Geodesy and History of cartography, topography, teledetection
| Netherlands | World excl. Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Table | Table |
| Map | Map |
Subject 4: Physical geography (geophysics, geology, geomorfology and soil science; hydrology, glaciology, climatology and meteorology; biogeography and ecology)
| Netherlands | World excl. Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Table | Table |
| Map | Map |
Subject 5: Environment, landuse and planning
| Netherlands |
|---|
| Table |
| Map |
The table and the map for the 'world excl. The Netherlands' for subject 5 have been amalgamated with subject 8.
Subject 6: Human geography (Society, its structure and organisation; social-economic subjects; social-cultural subjects)
| Netherlands | World excl. Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Table | Table |
| Map | Map |
Subject 8: Polythematic user maps (Orientation maps; townplans; management and services)
| Netherlands | World excl. Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| Table | Table subject 5 // Table subject 8 | |
| Map | Map 5 and 8 |
The table and the map for the 'world excl. The Netherlands' for subject 5 have been amalgamated with subject 8.
Koninklijke Bibliotheek - National Library of the Netherlands