For the Record: newsletter of the Illinois State Archives, & the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board, Secretary of State & State Archivist

              Maps: Finding Our Place in the World, an exhibit of more
than 100 of the world’s greatest maps, ran from
November 2 to January 27 at The Field Museum in
Chicago. From clay tablets to sea charts, and satellite
navigation systems to sketches of worlds real and imag-ined,
the exhibit showed how early maps were made,
how the technology changed over centuries, and how
digital map-making is changing the ways we use and
visualize maps. The exhibit included original works by
Ptolemy, Leonardo da Vinci, Abraham Lincoln and others.
The State Archives participated in the exhibit by loan-ing
an original land plat book, Federal Township Plats,
Vol. 14, which contains the original survey plat of the
City of Chicago.
“The Illinois State Archives was honored to participate in
this world-class exhibit,” said Secretary of State Jesse
White, who also serves as State Archivist. “The exhibit
demonstrates the importance of maintaining and pre-serving
historical documents, which is something my
office does every day through the State Archives.”
This volume, along with 52 other volumes comprising
Federal Township Plats, Record Series 953.012, was
transferred in 1865 from the U.S. Surveyor General to
the Illinois Governor’s office. In 1957, the plats were
turned over to the Secretary of State for deposit in the
State Archives. The record series, consisting of 3,457
original survey plats of the state of Illinois, were drawn
by the U.S. Surveyor General and his deputy surveyors
in preparation for the federal government’s sale of pub-lic
lands. The hand-drawn plats show Illinois’ landscape
with natural and man-made features and vegetation.
In 2002, the State Archives digitally scanned all the
original plats and loaded the compressed, digital
images onto the Archives’ server at http://land
plats.ilsos.net/Flash/Welcome.html. The plats also are
available on CD-ROM. For ordering information, please
contact: Publications, Illinois State Archives, Margaret
Cross Norton Building, Springfield, IL 62756, 217-782-
2226.
For the
Winter 2008
www.cyberdriveillinois.com
Newsletter
of the
Illinois
State
Archives
&
The Illinois
State Historical
Records
Advisory Board
Jesse White
Secretary of State
&
State Archivist
Volume 22
Number 1
Archives loans plat book for display at Field Museum
Photo courtesy of Sean O. Bober, The Field Museum
Federal Township Plats, Vol. 14, Record Series 953.012, containing
an original survey plat of the City of Chicago, was on display
recently at The Field Museum in Chicago.
“Basics of Archives” workshop
The Illinois Association of Museums will offer the
“Basics of Archives” at three workshops in April.
Workshops will be held Thursday, April 10, in
Springfield; Wednesday, April 16, in Geneva; and
April 22 in Carterville.
The workshops are designed to introduce individuals
responsible for archival collections, who may never
have received formal archival training, to the basics
of archives. Two archivists from the State Archives
will conduct the workshops. Participants will get
practical advice, sample forms and policies, and learn
basic practices in collecting and protecting archival
documents, and assisting people using the archival
records at their institutions. Workshops will be divid-ed
into two sections: the first one focusing on collec-tions
accessioning, organization and storage, and the
second on protecting and preserving historical collec-tions.
For more information, please contact: Karen
Everingham, Illinois Association of Museums, 1 Old
State Capitol Plaza, Springfield, IL 62701, 217-524-
6977, 217-558-1512 (fax), karen.everingham@illi-nois.
gov., www.illinoismuseums.org.