AGI's GeoRef Database Expands with Access to Geological Society of London's Map Collection

GeoRef staff are actively updating the database with references to a variety of national geologic map collections. Many of the maps were produced in Canada, East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania), and Europe (Spain, France, Belgium). This has been facilitated by an agreement between the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and the Geological Society of London (GSL), a member of the AGI federation, that allows AGI access to the GSL library and its collection of more than 40,000 maps.

Michel Noga, Collections Strategist; Earth & Planetary Sciences and Mathematics Librarian at MIT, said:

The public is interested in water resources, earthquakes, mineral rights, mines, ore deposits, radon, landslides, faults, volcanoes, caves, fracking, ground water, pollution, hazardous waste sites, sea level changes, floodplains, areas susceptible to hurricane damage, sinkholes, fossil locations, national park landscapes, and potential building sites. In addition, there is just a general appreciation of mountains, escarpments, and landscapes strongly influenced by tectonics, erosion, and other geologic processes. From energy resource extraction to pollution remediation to finding resources for urban and rural development, geologic maps are a foundation. Geologic mapping provides the basis for knowledge about the processes that shape the earth. Geologic maps provide layers of understanding that enable the public to understand and work with the earth.

With this year’s enhanced focus on maps for inclusion in GeoRef, the discoverability of this unique wealth of information will be forever expanded.