Archive Fever

Abstract The science of cartography went through revolutionary changes in the post-World War II period. In the near future the new types of artifacts and materials produced by the cartographers of this period will form the basis for the study of the history of modern cartography. Computer software, new computational devices, computer hardware, and complex mathematical algorithms all need to be preserved in a way that allows researchers access to the concepts and techniques that make up the cartography of today and the future. The following paper is a case study in the preservation of collections that are typically not part of the traditional materials found in map libraries. Although this paper is pragmatic in nature and focuses in particular on the software and algorithms found in the John Snyder Collection of satellite mapping materials now in the Library of Congress, it also addresses the many conceptual and theoretical problems that arise in the preservation of what the author calls “foundational collections” in the history of cartography.