Indexes to U.S. topographic maps show map users the various map series, special maps, and map byproducts produced and distributed by the U.S Geological Survey and to assist users in selecting and purchasing maps. The index identifies quadrangle areas by map name and scale. A map is usually named after the most prominent city, town or natural landmark shown on it.

Topographic map indexes are located at the first table in the Map Room (TOPO MAP INDEXES). There is one index for each state. Index maps for Canadian topos are located here also. Below are facsimiles of indexes for various maps in the collection, especially for New York State 7.5 minute series (1:24,000).

Some commercial map distributors have U.S. states index maps online (another link to an index site). Use these for fast searches.

USGS topographic map indexes are located at the first table in the Map Room. Each state has an index. At the left is a facsimile of the cover of the New York topo map index.

USGS topo-quads circulate. Find the right map by using the indexes. For New York and Pennsylvania, you can also search BISON, the UB Libraries Catalog by title or by county (e.g., s = erie county n y--maps topographic).

New York Index to Quadrangles. This is a facsimile of the full index map with active links to higher resolution segments for ease of use.

Use this index to locate New York topo maps in the UB Map Collection. You may also search in BISON for New York and Pennsylvania topographic maps by title, county, and other features.

1:24,000 Digital Raster Quadrangles Index Map (7.5 Minute Quadrangles) (New York State GIS Clearinghouse). Used to locate raster images and GIS data for quads but is useful for selecting paper maps as well (Click on quad location to obtain the quad name (for locating in drawer). You can view the entire state list by Quad Name, and can view map metadata (e.g., year of coverage, coordinates, etc.), and can download image files of each quad in low-res gif (2 gif versions for each quad), or in a zipped file that includes for each TIFF image internal GeoTIFF georegistration, a MapInfo format table file (.tab), and an ESRI format world file (.tfw).

New York State 1:250,000 scale maps are in the Eastern United States 1:250,000 series, one of a number of map series produced by the U.S. Government. These can be identified in BISON by title and are shelved in the Map Room under Government Documents (SuDoc) number. The Map Collection has maps in this series for a number of states, and this series is part of a world-wide series of maps of the same scale. Click on the image at left to see the New York index. For example the title: Buffalo is located under: US I 19.110: 42078-A 1-TF-250/

New York State 30 x 60 minute series (1:100,000 scale) maps. These can be located in BISON and are shelved in the Map Room under SuDoc number. For example the title: Rochester, New York : 1:100 000-scale metric topographic map is located under: US I 19.110: 43077-A 1-TM-100 /994

Army Map Service (AMS) Map Series maps. Each region has an index map and digitized facsimiles of some of the maps in each series.

Again, use BISON to search for maps in the UB Map Collection first, then refer to these. You can search for these maps by title, country, by district, province, or state (in some cases), and other features.

David J. Bertuca, Map Librarian

Last Modified: 13 September 2007 djb
URL: http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/maps/map_indexes.html
Comments to: askASL@buffalo.edu
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