WAML Member of the Month: Tim Ross

Where did you go to college?

B.A. from Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec and M.S.L.S. from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

Tell us what your job at Univ. of British Columbia encompasses.

I’m responsible for most reference, all collection development and some cataloguing in the Map & Atlas Collection; general social science reference on the ref. desk a few hours per week; and specialist reference, teaching, collection development and departmental liaison for Geography and Environmental Studies.

Where was your first job working with maps? 

Assistant Map Curator at McGill University in Montreal, my home town. The pay was bad, but I loved it anyway, and I met my ex-wife at the reference desk!

Do you have a favorite map?   

I don’t have one particular favourite, but love all land use maps, especially those from the Second Land Utilisation Survey of Britain, directed by Alice Coleman, whom I gave a tour to once at the McGill map library.

Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for the sunshine and vegetation.

What’s the most fun you ever had at a WAML conference?

The East vs. West beach volleyball game at the 1995 joint WAML/ACMLA conference at my university. I’ve also played beach volleyball in Jamaica, but the WAML/ACMLA game was much more fun!

What do you like to do when you aren’t being a map librarian?

I like walking on the trails at UBC and near home. (I live next to the Fraser River in a heritage fishing village south of Vancouver.) I also love California wine, dining out and antique furniture.

What book(s) are you reading these days?   

Andrew Taylor’s the World of Gerard Mercator and Michael Connelly’s the Overlook, featuring a naïve young man from Canada who witnesses a murder in LA.

What is your least favorite thing to do at work?   

Cataloguing.

And what's your favorite thing to do at work? 

Map reference, especially locating obscure maps in response to emails.