Example #1: You have a map of southern New England in front of you, roughly 30 cm. high by 40 cm. wide, and you want to identify it. It has a title but it has no author’s or engraver’s name. Can you find out more about this map: Where does it come from? When was it published?
The title, as printed on the map, is:
A NEW and accurate MAP of the present SEAT of WAR in NORTH AMERICA, from a late SURVEY
To try to find this map, you could just type some key words from the title into the second text-entry box (the box that is pre-set to search in "Title or Original AMPR Title"). You could type the entire title, but to save typing – and probably have just as good results – just enter key words:
Don’t worry about upper- and lower-case letters. The search will work regardless of case. To run the search, click on Perform Search.
When you perform a search, a new window appears (the Search Results window) showing you the matching records. The search in this example happens to match only one record in the database, so the top of the Search Results window will look like this:
You can see from the visible part of the title, and the dimensions, that this is probably the map you are looking for. To show the full details for the map, click on the Item Details tab. The window will then switch to the following display:
Comparing this with your map, noting the size and the area displayed (New England), as well as the title – which exactly matches your map – you almost certainly have located an entry describing the map you have. In addition, the References entry gives you a pointer to further cartobibliographical information about this map. To find out what this reference citation is, click on the blue-underlined reference name Jolly, D.C. (Brit Per). In the small window at the bottom of the screen you will see a complete bibliographic reference for this work:
(If you go to the library to consult this work and look up the entry numbered UNIV-173, you will find additional information about the map, including a number of additional cartobibliographical citations. A review of this reference work is also available on the CD-ROM. Click on the blue [Review] to bring up the review in your browser.)
If you are unfamiliar with Universal Magazine, you can click on this blue-underlined text as well, to discover that this was published in London in the second half of the 18th century.
For more information about the dealer, in whose catalog this entry was listed, click on the blue-underlined Thomas & Anhgsana Suarez. This will show contact information for this dealer, including a link that you can click on to access the dealer’s web site.
To get a hard-copy of the information you are looking at, choose Print from the File menu.
When you are done, click on the window’s close box (or choose Close from the File menu). The window will close and you will be back at the Search Screen.
Go on to Example #2 è