Overseas series mapping

About maps

The National Library holds mapping not only for Australia, but for every country and ocean in the world and also for all the planets. These maps may be standard topographic maps (showing terrain features), or may cover one or more themes, such as tourist information, roads, railways, geology, rainfall, soils, population density etc.

Maps may be produced as:

Individual (or single) maps of a country or region, each with its own catalogue record; these can be requested just like any other library material
Multi-sheet series. A series may include as few as 2 sheets (e.g. covering the eastern and western halves of an area), or as many as several thousand

Using the Library's collection

Series maps may have a single catalogue record for the entire series. To view, or order copies of, series maps, it is usually necessary to specify which sheet(s) of the series you need. The catalogue record will provide this information in one or more of the following ways:

As a listing of individual sheets, by name and/or number.
As an index map attached to the record, showing the full extent of the series, indicating in colour which sheets the Library holds, and demonstrating how the sheets are named or numbered.
Via reference to a printed or online gazetteer

Using these methods, you can then enter the name and/or number of the required sheets into the online request form. Scroll down the catalogue record, select "In the Library" and then "Request this". Make sure you specify in the notes field exactly which map/s you would like to view.

An example of a two-sheet map series.

Great Britain. War Office. (1942). New Caledonia, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-233403296

Historic map series

A large part of the Library's collection of overseas series maps relate to contested boundaries, colonization and war zones. The image below is taken from a series of Guadalcanal at 1:25 000, produced by the Australian Army in 1942, at the time of the Japanese invasion of the Solomon Islands. The area shown, marked with villages and "numerous gardens and cultivations", is the region on which modern-day Honiara stands.

Australia. Army. A.H.Q. Cartographic Company. (1942). Guadalcanal Island, 1:25,000, detail, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232835309

Joint Operations Graphics

Joint Operations Graphics (JOGs) are a series of maps produced jointly by various publishers around the world. JOGs are produced in both ground and air versions to assist navigation in joint military operations. The series depicted in the index below consists of thousands of sheets covering the surface of the globe, of which the Library holds the majority of sheets that are publicly available.

Australia. Army. Royal Australian Survey Corps. (1969). Joint operations graphic : [Australia] / prepared under the direction of the Chief of the General Staff by the Royal Australian Survey Corps. nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1675594

Mapping the planets

The Library holds a range of photomosaic, geological and topographic maps of Mercury, Venus, Mars and the satellites of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, published by the United States Geological Survey.

'South Polar Region' from Atlas of Mars 1:15,000,000 geologic series, Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va., 1986-1987, MAP G3182.M3C5 s15000. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-234052485

Uncatalogued map series

About half of the Library’s overseas map series are uncatalogued. The Special Collections Reading Room has half a dozen ringbinders containing index maps to many (but not all) of the catalogued and uncatalogued series, arranged by planet, continent and country.

For catalogued series, these are identical to the index attached to the online record, and requests can be made through the online catalogue.

For uncatalogued series, these indexes will become available online once the series is catalogued, but meanwhile requests can still be made using a paper call slip. Please see staff for assistance in requesting uncatalogued series maps, or Ask a Librarian.

As of 2024, indexes are available (online or in the ringbinders) for all series of:

Pacific Islands
Asia
The Middle East
North and East Africa
Southern Europe
Scandinavia
countries of the former USSR

Indexes are available for some but not all map series of:

Australia
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Ireland
parts of Europe
Southern, Central and West Africa
United States
Canada
Antarctica

If you cannot find the map series you want in either our online catalogue or in the ringbinders, we may still have it. Please seek assistance from our reference staff via Ask a Librarian.

World map showing countries for which ALL series maps have been indexed (shaded in blue), and countries for which series maps have been partially indexed (unshaded). G numbers relate to the call numbers for countries/regions.

Ordering copies

Copyright

Maps are usually published items.

Maps published in or before 1954 are out of copyright. For maps published by a government publisher in 1955 or later, copyright lasts for 50 years after the end of the year the map was published. For maps published by a non-government publisher in 1955 or later, copyright lasts for 70 years after the end of the year the map was published. For further information, see: Rights and the Maps Collection.

How to order copies of maps

Once you have identified maps of interest, you can order copies using Copies Direct. Supply of copies is subject to Australian copyright law.

If the item you wish to order is a single map:

go to the catalogue record for the map and click the red 'Order a Copy' button
complete the online order form.

If the item you wish to order is a map within an atlas:

go to the catalogue record for the atlas and click the red 'Order a Copy' button
in the Sheet/Plate number field, specify the page or plate required
complete the rest of the online order form.