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Maps & Air Photos: General Map Reference Sources

Information about finding maps and aerial photographs in the UC Berkeley Library collections and beyond.

For in-person or virtual reference assistance using the map and air photo collections, please schedule an appointment with a staff member or contact us at epslibs@berkeley.edu.

Glossaries & Dictionaries

Gazetteers (place names)

Maps in Atlases & Books

In addition to the maps and charts listed in the Library's catalogs, thousands of others can be found in books, atlases, and periodicals!

Maps in Atlases

An atlas may contain the desired map. For example, an ethnographic map of the Philippines is likely to be found in an atlas of that country (search by subject keyword "PHILIPPINES" and limit the search to publication format "MAPS"). Similarly, an agricultural map of India will probably be contained in an atlas of India (search by subject keywords "INDIA," "AGRICULTURE INDIA," or "INDIA ECONOMIC CONDITIONS" and limit publication format to "MAPS"). For a map of Kuala Lumpur, look in a Malaysian cities atlas (search by subject keywords "CITIES AND TOWNS MALAYSIA" and limit to format "MAPS"). Title keywords can also be useful for retrieving atlases; try using the place name and "ATLAS."

Maps in Books

Another approach is to look up a place name or subject in UC Library Search and look at the physical description (found in the "long" or "full" display) of the books the search retrieved. If a work contains maps, they will normally be mentioned right after the pagination. City directories and guidebooks commonly contain maps.

Some examples of the kinds of headings under which to search are:

  • ADAMS COUNTY ILL. HISTORY
  • BOSTON MASS DIRECTORIES
  • FRANCE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
  • INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA
  • IRELAND GUIDEBOOKS
  • NIGERIA POPULATION
  • PRECIPITATION METEOROLOGY CALIFORNIA
  • UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY

Additional Indexes and Bibliographies

Other indexes and bibliographies can be found in UC Library Search by searching for "subject keywords" such as:

  • MAPS BIBLIOGRAPHY
  • MAPS BIBLIOGRAPHY CATALOGS
  • ATLASES BIBLIOGRAPHY
  • [PLACE NAME] MAPS BIBLIOGRAPHY (e.g., MEXICO MAPS BIBLIOGRAPHY)
  • [PLACE NAME] MAPS INDEXES
  • [SUBJECT] MAPS BIBLIOGRAPHY (e.g., GEOLOGY MAPS BIBLIOGRAPHY)
  • GEOLOGY CALIFORNIA MAPS BIBLIOGRAPHY
  • [SUBJECT] MAPS INDEXES

Additional Resources