Maps & Atlases

   The Evans Map Room on the second level of Berry Library has topographic coverage for almost every country in the world. Coverage of some countries is more comprehensive than others. For example, we have the 3 topographic series for the United States, the 250,000 (1x2 °), the 100,000 (1°x30″) and the 24,000 (7½ minute).

    You can always do a subject search for [country] maps topographic to see what is there. However, not all of our topographic sets are in the online catalog.

    We still have a card catalog!

    Your best option is to e-mail us at map.room@dartmouth.edu or visit the map room in person. If we don't have something in print, we may be able to recommend something online.

    Depending on the map sheet's age, you may be able to check it out. If it cannot be checked out, we are able to scan the map or maps for you and put them on CD's. If you do not have CD's, we charge $5.00 per CD/DVD. Sometimes, the scanned images are too large to e-mail to yourself.

 A topographic map is one which shows physical and human features of the area shown. A topographic map may show roads, contour lines for elevation, rivers, schools, post offices, individual mountain peaks, national and state parks and forests and towns.

    Almost every country has some kind of mapping agency responsible for creating topographic maps. For the United States, it is the Geological Survey. For Canada, it is Geomatics Canada within Natural Resources Canada, while in Mexico, it is the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Geografia e Informatica (INEGI).

The U.S. Geological Survey is the largest supplier of topographic maps for the United States. You can buy maps directly from them or download topographic sheets. The USGS has a new digital format for its maps. It is called a GeoPDF. You can use Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these new maps. You can even download an add-on that is specific to GeoPDF's. The add-on gives you tools that allow you to measure distances, make notations and view in Google Maps.