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All maps digitized as a part of the LONTAD project received extensive metadata records to aid in their search, retrieval and discovery. Whether using a text search, or browsing through the Fonds, here is some additional information about the collection to get started.
The Maps are found in two collections, separating items from the League of Nations Library from those collected later at the United Nations Library. United Nations era maps have not been scanned; however, the fonds provide an index for those resources available physically at the UN Library and Archives Geneva.
These sections have been further divided by geographic regions as established by the UNBIS Thesaurus.
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League of Nations Library Map Collection World Intercontinental International Map of the World Africa Central Africa East Africa North Africa Northeast Africa Southern Africa West Africa Americas Caribbean Region North America Central America South America Asia Central Asia East Asia South Asia Southeast Asia Southwest Asia Western Asia Europe Eastern Europe Southern Europe Western Europe Germany France Oceania Oceans, Seas and Polar Regions |
United Nations Office at Geneva Library Map Collection World Intercontinental Africa Central Africa East Africa North Africa Northeast Africa Southern Africa West Africa Americas Caribbean Region North America Central America South America Asia Central Asia East Asia South Asia Southeast Asia Southwest Asia Western Asia Europe Eastern Europe Southern Europe Western Europe Oceania Oceans, Seas and Polar Regions |
Selecting a specific access point type, such as “Cartographic Resources” (Genre Access Point) “North America” (Place Access Point) or “Political Geography” (Subject Access Point) will refine your search criteria to only display resources that have been given these access points.
Like other fonds within the archives, searches within the map collection can be filtered by date. Maps with no date available appear with a date range from their earliest estimated decade to the end of the collection.
Every map whether scanned or not includes at least one Place Access Point. These are based on both the UNBIS Thesaurus and the LON Index of Geographical Entities. They include countries and large geographic features or regions. Place access points are a great starting point to look at which maps are available of a specific geographic region.
Maps that contain subject-specific information have been given Subject Access Points. In the UN Archives Geneva Platform, you can click on a Subject Access Point to see which maps within our collection are also related to a specific subject. You can also browse maps by subject while using the search function in the UN Archives Geneva Platform
Those who were responsible for creating maps have authority records within the collection. If you click on the creator or publisher of a map, you will be able to browse additional resources by the same person or company.
Many maps within the collection have been previous stamped by the library or annotated with numbering systems used by former library staff. However, there are many maps within the collection that show evidence of their use through annotations by unknown parties as well. These markings are described in the scope and content section for maps which contain these markings, or additional interesting characteristics. Simply type “annotated” into the search bar to discover these unique items.
Additionally, maps with different markings on multiple copies have all been scanned. Copies contain full metadata records and appear nested under the original copy with the archival hierarchy.
