Maps at the Queensland State Archives
Types of Maps
The QSA collection includes many thousands of maps but they fall into three broad categories: topographic, showing the land features (natural and constructed); cadastral, showing the ownership of property; and thematic, showing how the land is being used. The thematic category is very broad covering such "uses" as crop types, transport routes, electoral boundaries and government service planning. Some people classify Admiralty Charts (of the coastal sea) as a subset of topographic maps (called hydrographic) while others treat them as a separate group. Locating the map you need
If you have an approximate idea of where a place is located and want to search visually, then locate the Key Maps collection hanging at the end of the Public Reading Room. You can scan large scale maps to find the place and read off the number of the more detailed map you need to consult. The alternative is to use the catalogue search. In Basic Search, you enter the name of the location and one of the words map, plan or chart as keywords to search. If you use Advanced Search, you can show the Item Search Criteria and select Maps as the Item Format, then simply enter the place name as the keyword. Scale
In order to show information with different levels of specificity, maps are drawn to different scales. A Block Plan shows very detailed information about a small part of an urban area, It might include the material from which a building was made and the location of doors. A Town Map shows a larger area but with less detail about each part. It will indicate individual property boundaries but not necessarily the location of buildings. A Parish Map can show the location of several towns and the rural land between them with even less local detail. |
Resources to assist your research
You can download these pdf documents before you visit the Archive so you are well prepared to begin work. Webinar training
On 26 February 2015, the QSA conducted a webinar entitled Maps for family and local history research. You can view a recording of that (1 hour) session at the Livestream site. Obtaining copies of maps in the collection
In the Public Search Room, you may photograph parts of a map (no flash!) provided the document is not mishandled (such as folding) to do so. The Archive no longer makes available printed copies of maps but will scan onto CD or USB. Details of the copying service, the charges made and a form to request a quote for a particular record are all available on-line. |