In a ceremony at the Library of Congress on May 10, Air Force Maj. Gen. Philip W. Nuber, director of the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), presented to the Librarian a set of 103 maps of Bosnia-Herzegovina that were produced by DMA staff to support the treaty accord agreed to at Dayton, Ohio, in November and signed in Paris last December.
Dr. Billington, in accepting the maps, thanked Gen. Nuber and the DMA: "We really appreciate not only having the maps for the nation but also for the work that you do. The mapping of the earth's terrain is one of the fundamental things we have to do-and we have to do it well."
Gen. Nuber also gave the Library a certificate attesting to the authenticity of the map set, one of 10 official sets at the 1:50,000 scale. The maps include the Inter-Entity and Cease Fire Lines that were agreed upon during the peace talks in Dayton.
After looking at some of the historic maps of the area that Geography and Map Division Chief Ralph Ehrenberg selected from the division's collections to show him, Gen. Nuber noted that "if we had come here first, some of these lines might not have been so difficult to draw."
Accompanying Gen. Nuber were some of the DMA staff members who helped to prepare and revise the maps as the peace talks proceeded last fall.
The Defense Mapping Agency is a major combat support element of the Department of Defense; it provides up-do-date, tailored global, geospa-tial information and services to all elements of the Defense Department. The Library's Geography and Map Division has had a close working relationship with DMA and its predecessor agencies in the Defense Department for the last 50 years.
The Bosnia peace maps are now available for use in the Geography and Map Reading Room on the B-level of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue S.E. The reading room is open from 8:30 to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.