Map Library

In 1860, one-quarter of the foreign-born population in Michigan was from Germany.  These two maps of Michigan appeared in two popular German-made atlases, made when many western Europeans were immigrating to the United States.  

‘Nordlicher Theil’ shows us the entire journey immigrants could take from New York, up the Hudson River, along the newly-built Erie Canal and through the Great Lakes to Michigan.

Thirty years later, the atlas containing Neueste Karte was referred to as “Rolls Royce” of nineteenth century atlases.  However we can see that the geography of Michigan is...

Joan Blaeu, like his father before him, was the official cartographer to the Dutch East India Company. This affiliation brought his mapmaking firm advantageous intelligence on the far eastern lands due to the Dutch monopoly on the spice trade.

Atlas Maior was the culmination of more than 60 years of work. The House of Blaeu published several atlases since the founding of the firm in 1596, including Het Licht der Zeevaert, Theatre du Monde ou Nouvel Atlas, and Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.

When this atlas was released in 1665 in multiple volumes, it was the most expensive published...

This summer we are having a week long series of 3D themed workshops! All workshops will be held in the Digital Scholarship Lab between 3:00-5:00.

Monday June 11
Intro to 3D Modeling and Printing with OnShape

Curious about how 3D printing can meet your needs? Join us to explore the history of 3D printing, the basics of hardware and software, and local resources available for design and production. In this hands-on session, participants will learn the basics of 3D modeling to design a product, for possible print at MakeCentral: Makerspace.  Participants will need a...

Michigan's 83 counties are divided into villages, townships, charter townships, and cities.  Collectively these units are known as Minor Civil Divisions.  The differences between them relate to the degree of power they have over their administrative structure, their taxing powers, territorial integrity, and authority over services (Verberg, 1990).  When it comes to matters of property taxes and voting, all state residents look to either their city or township.  A city may annex land from a general law township, but a township may not annex land from a city. The U.S. Bureau of Census...