The Map Collection contains more than 270,000 sheet maps, including maps issued by city, county, state and national governments, international organizations, and a variety of commercial publishers. The collection is international in scope. Subject coverage is broad and now includes all geological maps transferred from the Geoscience Library (that library closed in spring 2010).
Rare maps include copies of pre-1900 maps of Iowa, as well as Iowa fire insurance maps for more than 1,000 Iowa cities from the 1870s through the 1930s, either on paper or microfiche. The collection also holds German and Japanese topographic maps captured during World War II.
Since 2004, records for new maps arriving in the Map Collection are available in the UI’s InfoHawk Catalog —use the “Advanced Search” option and search for Format—Map and Location—Map Collection. However, records for many older sheet maps in the collection are still not accessible in the on-line catalog. Please contact Map Collection staff for assistance.
