Cultural, historical, and economic atlases are only some of the thematic atlases that are being published in record numbers. This book alerts librarians to the value of this increasingly-popular genre, and is a guide to their use in collection development. Among the one hundred titles evaluated in this book are Great Caves of the World, Art Atlas of Britain and Ireland, Atlas of American Sport, Atlas of Human Anatomy, Great Battlefields of the World, Historical Atlas of the Outlaw West, Instant National Locator Guide, Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Census, Women's Atlas of the United States, and Zones of Conflict.

The comprehensive evaluations include bibliographic data, physical descriptions (with height and width in inches), topics and coverage, noteworthy qualities, and citations to reviews in library and subject journals. The introductory section offers recommendations for evaluating, accessing, organizing, and managing thematic atlases for public, academic, and high school libraries.