Globes fall into two broad categories: terrestrial and celestial. Terrestrial globes are spherical maps of the world, and celestial globes use the earth as an imaginary center of the universe to map the stars in spherical form. A globe is the only "true" map of the world because there is no distortion in relationships of areas, directions, or distances.

 

 

Advantages:

 

Globes give a good, visual indication of the earth's surface, the shape of the continents, and their relative positions, and gives a true representation; whatever position it is viewed from. The shape and size of the various continents is not distorted through trying to represent a spherical surface on a flat piece of paper.

 

 

Unlike flat maps, globes can represent Earth’s curved surface without distortion. Globes are often used to plan long sea and air routes, called great-circle routes, and to determine the routes of satellites.

 

 

 

Disadvantages:

 

However; globes cannot give detailed information on a large scale; even very large globes. They also give a false impression of the relative curvature of the earth, because the radius of a globe is a lot less than the radius of the earth.

 

They are somewhat bulky and cannot be stored easily. In addition, globes would have to be gigantic to show small areas, such as those of a state in the United States, in great detail.

 

 

Implications for Collection Development:

 

Globes are still widely used in the media center and in general education classrooms in k-12 settings. Although online maps appear to be more popular among students, the traditional globe is still visible and is still part of the collection development of the media center.

 

 

Copyright Considerations:

 

Globes follow the general copyright guidelines provided in the policy and procedure manual housed in the media center. Globes cannot be reproduced or copied without permission.