diff --git a/app/controllers/maps_controller.rb b/app/controllers/maps_controller.rb
index 9ad05810..65cc76cb 100644
--- a/app/controllers/maps_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/maps_controller.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 class MapsController < ApplicationController
     before_filter :require_user, only: [:create, :update, :screenshot, :destroy]
 
-    respond_to :html, :json
+    respond_to :html, :json, :csv
 
     autocomplete :map, :name, :full => true, :extra_data => [:user_id]
 
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ class MapsController < ApplicationController
                 respond_with(@allmappers, @allmappings, @allsynapses, @alltopics, @map) 
             }
             format.json { render json: @map }
+            format.csv { send_data @map.to_csv }
+            format.xls
         end
     end
 
diff --git a/app/models/map.rb b/app/models/map.rb
index 6c2caca2..166afb4a 100644
--- a/app/models/map.rb
+++ b/app/models/map.rb
@@ -79,6 +79,24 @@ class Map < ActiveRecord::Base
     json
   end
 
+  def to_csv(options = {})
+    CSV.generate(options) do |csv|
+      csv << ["id", "name", "metacode", "desc", "link", "user.name", "permission", "synapses"]
+      self.topics.each do |topic|
+        csv << [
+          topic.id,
+          topic.name,
+          topic.metacode.name,
+          topic.desc,
+          topic.link,
+          topic.user.name,
+          topic.permission,
+          topic.synapses_csv("text")
+        ]
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   ##### PERMISSIONS ######
   
   def authorize_to_delete(user)
diff --git a/app/models/topic.rb b/app/models/topic.rb
index c528aa6e..3e66366b 100644
--- a/app/models/topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic.rb
@@ -87,6 +87,38 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
   	end
   	result
   end
+
+  # TODO move to a decorator?
+  def synapses_csv(output_format = 'array')
+    output = []
+    synapses.each do |synapse|
+      if synapse.category == 'from-to'
+        if synapse.node1_id == id
+          output << synapse.node1_id.to_s + '->' + synapse.node2_id.to_s
+        elsif synapse.node2_id == id
+          output << synapse.node2_id.to_s + '<-' + synapse.node1_id.to_s
+        else
+          fail 'invalid synapse on topic in synapse_csv'
+        end
+      elsif synapse.category == 'both'
+        if synapse.node1_id == id
+          output << synapse.node1_id.to_s + '<->' + synapse.node2_id.to_s
+        elsif synapse.node2_id == id
+          output << synapse.node2_id.to_s + '<->' + synapse.node1_id.to_s
+        else
+          fail 'invalid synapse on topic in synapse_csv'
+        end
+      end
+    end
+    if output_format == 'array'
+      return output
+    elsif output_format == 'text'
+      return output.join('; ')
+    else
+      fail 'invalid argument to synapses_csv'
+    end
+    output
+  end
   
   ##### PERMISSIONS ######
   
diff --git a/app/views/maps/show.xls.erb b/app/views/maps/show.xls.erb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d00dd36e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/maps/show.xls.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+<table>
+  <tr>
+    <th>ID</th>
+    <th>Name</th>
+    <th>Metacode</th>
+    <th>Description</th>
+    <th>Link</th>
+    <th>Username</th>
+    <th>Permission</th>
+    <th>Synapses</th>
+  </tr>
+  <% @map.topics.each do |topic| %>
+  <tr>
+    <td><%= topic.id %></td>
+    <td><%= topic.name %></td>
+    <td><%= topic.metacode.name %></td>
+    <td><%= topic.desc %></td>
+    <td><%= topic.link %></td>
+    <td><%= topic.user.name %></td>
+    <td><%= topic.permission %></td>
+    <% topic.synapses_csv.each do |s_text| %>
+      <td><%= s_text %></td>
+    <% end %>
+  </tr>
+  <% end %>
+</table>
diff --git a/config/application.rb b/config/application.rb
index 399b32c9..ab088ba5 100644
--- a/config/application.rb
+++ b/config/application.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require File.expand_path('../boot', __FILE__)
 
+require 'csv'
 require 'rails/all'
 require 'dotenv'
 
diff --git a/config/initializers/mime_types.rb b/config/initializers/mime_types.rb
index 72aca7e4..8b5e5425 100644
--- a/config/initializers/mime_types.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/mime_types.rb
@@ -3,3 +3,5 @@
 # Add new mime types for use in respond_to blocks:
 # Mime::Type.register "text/richtext", :rtf
 # Mime::Type.register_alias "text/html", :iphone
+
+Mime::Type.register "application/xls", :xls