These maps are vital for researchers, historians, and geologists looking for authoritative, high-detail government data that predates modern digital GIS systems.
While "GPO Maps" can refer to two distinct things, it most commonly refers to in Windows administration or, less commonly, physical cartographic resources from the Government Publishing Office (GPO) . 1. Windows Administration: GPO Drive Mapping
These are almost exclusively paper-only documents produced by various federal agencies like the USGS or the Census Bureau.
You can find these in Federal Depository Libraries across the country. They often include specialized data like agricultural soil maps, military terrain, and historical census tracts.
This is a standard IT method used by system administrators to automatically assign network drives to users' computers within an Active Directory environment.
Administrators use the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) to create a policy that instructs Windows to "map" a specific server folder to a local drive letter (like S: or P: ). Key Features:
In a library or historical context, "GPO Maps" refers to the vast collection of maps printed and distributed by the .