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General & Multidisciplinary Resource Guides — General/Multidisciplinary
Maps & GIS

Librarian Subject Specialist

Carol La Russa
cjlarussa@ucdavis.edu — (530) 752‑0519 — PSEL Reference/Collections (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/pse/)

Map reference questions can also be directed to the Map Collection staff at (530) 752-9786 during the hours the collection is open, to the Physical Sciences & Engineering Library Reference Desk at (530) 752-0459, or sent to maps@lib.ucdavis.edu.

On This Page

  • [Restricted] Restricted to UC Davis Campus and authenticated VPN/Proxy users
  • [Restricted] Library Use or On-Campus Use Only
  • Click on VPN to access resource via Library VPN (requires Kerberos login)

GIS Data - Downloadable

Cal-Atlas Geospatial Clearinghouse (http://www.atlas.ca.gov/download.html)
Author: State of California
This government site provides free downloads for frequently used datasets of California, including basemaps, elevation, transportation, political boundaries, scanned USGS topographic maps and 2005 and 2009 aerial photography.
Coverage: California
Related:
  • Map Surfer v2.0 - Imagery Download Tool (http://atlas.ca.gov/imagerySearch.html)
    This interface allows you to easily locate and download California DRGs, DOQQs, NAIP Imagery, HiRes Urban Imagery, and Landsat Imagery.
City of Davis Mapping and Geographic Information Systems - Downloadable GIS Data (http://cityofdavis.org/gis/data.cfm)
Author: City of Davis
This site allows you to download transportation, landuse, boundary files, and high-resolution digital aerial photographs of Davis, CA subject to a creative commons license.
Coverage: Davis, CA
National Atlas (http://www.nationalatlas.gov/)
Author: United States Department of the Interior
The U.S. National Atlas website provides a broad array of electronic maps and services delivered online, replacing the 1970's print National Atlas. Coverage is nationwide. You can download GIS data, create customized maps for printing and viewing, and view and print pre-formatted maps on various topics. Map Layers cover various subjects, including 1980, 1990, and 2000 census boundaries, transportation, political boundaries, environment, biology, and climate. For a full list of layers available for download, go to http://www.nationalatlas.gov/maplayers.html
Coverage: United States
U.S. Census Bureau Cartographic Boundary Files (http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cob/index.html)
Author: U.S. Census Bureau
The 1990 and 2000 decennial census boundary files available here are selected generalized extracts from the Census Bureau's TIGER geographic database and are designed for use in a Geographic Information System (GIS) or similar mapping system. The cartographic boundary files on this site are available in ARC/INFO EXPORT (.e00) format, ArcView Shapefile (.shp) format, and ARC/INFO Ungenerate (ASCII) format. These are the boundary files without the demographic data in the attribute tables. Tabular data may be downloaded from American Factfinder (http://factfinder2.census.gov/) and used in conjunction with the boundary files.
Coverage: United States
Date: 1990, 2000
USDA Geospatial Gateway (http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/)
Author: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
The Geospatial Data Gateway (GDG) is the One Stop Source for environmental and natural resources data. The Gateway allows you to choose your area of interest, browse and select data from our catalog, customize the format, and have it downloaded or shipped on CD or DVD. Data sets include: Common Land Units, Transportation, Government Units, Census, Landmarks, Digital Raster Graphics (DRG), Elevation, Ortho Imagery, Landuse/Landcover, Geology, Soils, Precipitation, Temperature
Coverage: United States
Date: Current
National Historical Geographic Information System (http://www.nhgis.org/)

The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) is a project to create and freely disseminate a database incorporating all available aggregate census information for the United States between 1790 and 2000. Census Tract Shapefiles are available for select areas for the 1940 - 1990 census.

The NHGIS consists of three major components:

1)Collect and enrich historical and contemporary U.S. Census summary data; 2)Incorporate these data into a Geographic Information Systems framework; 3) Create a web-based system for access to both census data and the metadata.

Free access, but requires you to register and login to use.

Coverage: United States
Date: 1790 - 2000
Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/index.html)
Author: Newberry Library -- Dr. William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture
The Atlas presents (in maps, text, and downloadable GIS data) complete data about the creation and all subsequent changes (dated to the day) in the size, shape, and location of every county in the fifty United States and the District of Columbia. It also includes non-county areas, unsuccessful authorizations for new counties, changes in county names and organization, and the temporary attachments of non-county areas and unorganized counties to fully functioning counties. The principal sources for these data are the most authoritative available: the session laws of the colonies, territories, and states that created and changed the counties.
Coverage: 1788 - present
Geocommunity GIS Data Depot (http://data.geocomm.com/)
The GIS DataDepot is a commercial data site that has numerous data holdings available for free download. Additional data may be downloaded via a "Premium" option or written to CD-ROM for a fee. No-fee registration is required to download even the free data. Coverage is worldwide but generally not very detailed (VMAP0). US coverage includes TIGER/Line files; soils data (STATSGO and SSURGO); DEMs; and transportation, utilities, hypsography,and vegetation data at 1M.
Coverage: worldwide

Scanned Maps and Aerial Photographs

EarthExplorer (http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer/)
The USGS Earth Explorer is USGS tool for querying and ordering satellite images, aerial photographs, and cartographic products. Log in as a guest or as a registered user. Registered users have access to more features than guests do. If you plan on using Earth Explorer frequently, you may wish to register.
Digital Sanborn maps [via ProQuest]. (http://sanborn.umi.com/) [Restricted] VPN
Author: ProQuest Information and Learning
Sanborn fire insurance maps, created to assist fire insurance companies assess risk, are large-scale community plans drawn at a scale of 50 feet to one inch. The maps give street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, and house and block numbers. Sanborn maps also contain data about construction details, building use and the utilities and transportation infrastructure that supported the community overall. Several editions of maps exist for some cities. NOTE: UC Davis Libraries subscribe ONLY to the California and Nevada Digital Sanborn Maps
Coverage: 1867-1970
The National Map: Historical Topographic Map Collection (http://nationalmap.gov/historical/)

More than 90,000 maps are currently available including all California historical standard quadrangle maps.

California Historic Topographic Map Collection (http://cricket.csuchico.edu/spcfotos/maps/topo_search.html)
Special Collections at California State University, Chico's Merriam Library has a fine collection of scanned historic topographic maps of California.
UC Berkeley Library Digital Map Collection (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/browse.html)
Search thousands of digital maps in the University of California, Berkeley's Earth Sciences & Map Library Digital Collection.
Related:
USGS Publications Warehouse (http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/)
Author: U.S. Geological Survey
The USGS Publications Warehouse contains: Full text and maps for over 40,000 USGS publications, citations for over 70,000 USGS publications, and USGS numbered series from as early as 1880. Biological series released by the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Biological Survey prior to creation of the Biological Resources Division in USGS are included in this database. Non-USGS series publications authored by USGS employees are currently NOT included.
Coverage: 1880 - present
Related:
Old Maps Online (http://www.oldmapsonline.org/)

The OldMapsOnline Portal is an easy-to-use gateway to historical maps in libraries around the world. It allows the user to search for online digital historical maps across numerous different collections via a geographical search. The search results provide a direct link to the map image on the website of the host institution.

American Memory Map Collections (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html)
Online images of maps in the Library of Congress's collection. The emphasis is on Americana and Cartographic treasures. Categories of maps include: Discovery and Exploration, Transportation and Communication, Military Battles and Campaigns, Cultural Landscapes, and Conservation and Environment. Many of the maps represented are historical maps and most are not covered by copyright protection.
Coverage: 1500 - present
David Rumsey Map Collection (http://www.davidrumsey.com./)
The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 11,000 maps online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented. Collection categories include antique atlas, globe, school geography, maritime chart, state, county, city, pocket, wall, childrens and manuscript maps.
Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/)
Over 5,500 online map images from the University of Texas's Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection. Many of the images are general country maps, but there are also many historical maps available with an emphasis on Texas.
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) GRID/Arendal Maps and Graphics Library (http://maps.grida.no/)
This site catalogs and provides access to maps and graphics that have been prepared for UNEP publications and web-sites from the last 15 years on a wide range of themes related to environment and sustainable development. Maps and graphics are free for viewing and downloading. As of June 20, 2006, there were currently 752 graphics available in the database.
Calisphere (http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/)
Calisphere contains more than 150,000 digitized items -- including over 2500 maps -- that reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history. To search for images of maps, type "maps" in the search box.

Data Clearinghouses

The following databases allow you to search for GIS and other data, but do not always allow you to download data directly. They do provide contact information on how to obtain the data.
California Environmental Information Clearinghouse (http://ceic.resources.ca.gov/)
Author: State of California
The California Environmental Information Catalog is an online directory for reporting and discovery of information resources for California. Participants include cities, counties, utilities, state and federal agencies, private businesses and academic institutions that have spatial and other types of data resources.
Coverage: California
geodata.gov (http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos)
Search for GIS Data or create a map using the online viewer. Geodata.gov is part of the Geospatial One-Stop E-Gov initiative providing access to geospatial data and information. (alt: geodata gov)
Geospatial Data Clearinghouse - National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) (http://clearinghouse1.fgdc.gov/)
Primarily US, but includes International Data. The Clearinghouse functions as a detailed GIS data catalog service with links to spatial data and browse graphics. Contibutors to the Clearinghouse include federal, state, university, and vendors in the US and abroad.

Interactive Mapping

Social Explorer (http://www.socialexplorer.com/pub/maps/home.aspx)
Author: Social Explorer
The Social Explorer allows UC Davis users to interactively explore U.S. Census demographic data maps between 1790 and 2010 and U.S. religion maps for 1980, 1990, and 2000. Other users have restricted access to these materials.
Coverage: United States
Date: 1790 - 2010

Gazetteers

Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online (http://uclibs.org/PID/23138) [Restricted] VPN
Geographic database of over 165,000 entries including place-names, physical characteristics and attributes, political properties, economic parameters, and natural and agricultural resources. Global in scope, updated monthly.
Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) (http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/index.html)
Author: U.S. Board on Geographic Names, USGS
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)is the official repository of the United States of America's domestic geographic names data. The GNIS contains information about physical and cultural geographic features of all types in the United States, associated areas, and Antarctica, current and historical, but not including roads and highways. The database holds the Federally recognized name of each feature and defines the feature location by state, county, USGS topographic map, and geographic coordinates. Other attributes include names or spellings other than the official name, feature designations, feature classification, historical and descriptive information, and for some categories the geometric boundaries.
Coverage: United States
Date: current
GEOnet Names Server (GNS) (http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/index.html)
Author: National Geospatial Intelligence Agency

The Geographic Names Server is the official repository of standard spellings of all foreign place names, sanctioned by the United States Board on Geographic Names. The database also contains variant spellings which are useful for finding purposes. It also contains native script spellings for some of the names. All the geographic features in the database contain information about location, administrative division, and quality.

The GEOnet Names Server (GNS) does not contain any data for the United States of America or its Dependent areas. To obtain U.S. data, use the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database of names.

Coverage: World-wide except for USA and territories
Date: current
Canadian Geographical Names Data Base (http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/index_e.php)
Author: Natural Resources Canada
The Canadian Geographical Names Data Base stores names records for populated places and physical features across Canada. Of the entries, nearly 350 000 names are recognized by the Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) for official Canadian use.
Coverage: Canada
Date: Current

Guides to Electronic, Print, and Other Resources

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) [UC Davis Library] (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/mapcollection/gis.php)
Home page describing the UC Davis Library's GIS resources and reference services.
Websites for Digital GIS Data [Stanford University] (http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/gis/web.html)
An list of links to sources for local, state, federal, and international GIS data provided by Branner Earth Sciences Library and Map Collections.