Geoscience Information: A state-of-the art review

The International Conference on Geological Information represents the first major attempt to bring together geoscience information specialists from allover the world. The purpose of the conference was to assess the current state-of- the-art in geoscience information from both the regional and functional point of view. It was hoped that the conference could take steps to bring about increased international cooperation and collaboration in the field of geological information. The papers ranged over the whole spec- trum of documentation from primary publishing back to the user, including data. Perhaps a keyword for the conference might be "cooperation". The idea of, and need for, cooperation was stressed in almost every talk. The final panel session was devoted to a discussion on the formation of a proposed International Association for Geological Information. Despite the growing pressure on information managers, stimulated by increasing international activities in geology, the global perspective of plate tectonics and worldwide concern for the availability of non-renewable resources, there does not exist an international organisation specifi- cally concerned with geological information. Delegates agreed that there was no need for a new professional society of individuals but that a federation or similar organisation might be desirable. In the final session it became apparent that if the geological information community is to make the best use of all the systems and developments available there is very clearly a need to know what exists in all these areas at present. An urgent task is to identify these systems.

Table of Contents:
Review of geological documentation.- State-of-the-art in geoscience information-USA.- Canada: current activities and issues in geological documentation.- Geological documentation in the Federal Republic of Germany.- Geological information in France.- State-of-the-art of geological documentation in the United Kingdom.- The current Australasian earth sciences information scene.- Geoscience documentation in India.- History of geoscience information in India.- Geological documentation in Brazil.- International aspects of geological documentation.- Aspects of geological documentation.- Publication practices used by professional societies.- Indexing and abstracting: degrees of freedom.- The role of the UNISIST/ICSU-AB Reference Manual in data base processing.- Computer-assisted editing of bibliographic information.- Geological data management.- Online information retrieval - present status and future implications (Abstract only).- Application of information handling to applied geology.- What information is available for the applied geologist.- International resource data - international resource analyses.- International data exchange for geothermal energy power production.- Data banking in IEA coal research.- International access to the Petroleum Abstracts Information System.- An advanced hydrogeological data storage and retrieval system in use in New South Wales.- Documentation in specialized areas.- Applications, availability and acquisition of earth satellite imagery for geology.- Bibliographical control of geological maps.- The link between "data" and "documentation".- Earth science and the foreign language problem.- User viewpoints.- Geology presented in collections of papers from the published literature.- Geoscience information sources and services from the user's viewpoint.- Information transfer to the geoscientist through the International Union of Geological Sciences.- Status of information education for geoscientists in the United States and Canada.- Some practical approaches to geoscience information problems of developing countries.