Map and Geospatial Research and Reference Services at a Large Public Library: An Overview of the Leventhal Map Center

Abstract

The Norman B. Leventhal Map Center (LMC) is a non-profit organization that provides stewardship of the Boston Public Library's (BPL) cartographic collections. The LMC moved into a new space in 2011 that displays rotating exhibitions and opens the collection for public inquiry, increasing awareness of reference services and research within the collection. In-person research numbers have declined slightly since 2012 as the LMC grows their digital collections. The LMC has made additional efforts to address increasing interest from tech-enabled researchers through the creation of a new digital collections website, by use of personas to inform design and providing workshops aimed at lowering the bar for entry into using GIS, and creating digital spatial indexes to supplement paper map indexes.