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Denise, I'm afraid that I have to agree with Francis, we have some photocopied OS and tithe maps on open access in our reading room and it is a major job for staff to keep these in order and undamaged. If you are going to do this with original material you will have to face damage to, and loss of, material which is expensive to replace or in the case of older items no longer available. Even staff need to be trained to handle maps properly and to remove them from the drawers without tearing them. There is also the question of staff expertise in helping people find the right material. Reference interviews and staff expertise are vital in map librarianship and people forget this at their peril. When I was a geography student at Nottingham our departmental map collection was help-yourself and as a result it was very difficult to find anything, even when the maps were in the right order in the drawers; in the end most people gave up and didn't bother using it. This might seem to be the easier & cheaper option but in the long-run you will have a collection which is disordered, damaged and incomplete. Once this happens your users will become frustrated because they can't find what they want and simply cease to use it. Huw -- Huw Thomas FRGS Pennaeth Uned Defnyddiau Di-destun / Head of Non-Text Materials Unit Isadran Data Llyfryddol / Bibliographic Data Section Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales ABERYSTWYTH Ceredigion SY23 3BU Ffon / Tel: +44-1970-632990 (Direct line) ebost / email: [log in to unmask] Y We / WWW: http://www.llgc.org.uk Nid yw'r neges hon o angenrheidrwydd yn adlewyrchu barn LlGC This message does not necessarily reflect the opinion of NLW >-----Original Message----- >From: D.Harrison [mailto:[log in to unmask]] >Sent: 06 June 2006 08:27 >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Open access for maps > >Hi everyone! > >We will be closing our Map Library in around 12 month's time and >relocating the collection to our Main Library. > >We are considering having the collection on open access. > >I'm aware that there are a couple of libraries that already run their >collections in this way and I'd like to get in contact to see how we >can ensure a smooth running service. > >If you've tried it and found it didn't work, I'd also like to hear from >you. > >Best wishes >Denise Harrison > > > > > >********************************************************* > >Denise Harrison >Academic Liaison Librarian >Main Library >University of Sheffield Tel: 0114 222 7270 >Sheffield S10 2TN Fax: 0114 222 7290 > >