UNDER CONSTRUCTION

What Field Trip Leaders Can Do to Help Save Guidebooks

& Make Them Available

When Preparing Field Trip Guidebooks:

• Make sure information on the cover and title page is correct & consistent. Use Standards:
  • Geoscience Information Society Guidelines for Authors, Editors, and Publishers of Geologic Field Trip Guidebooks
  • http://www.geoinfo.org/GuidebookGuidelines.pdf
• If the trips are reoccurring, use consecutive numbering in addition to the year (This helps librarians know if one is missing from databases or collections).
• If at all possible, do not change the title of the series. Changes to the series title will create problems due to cataloging rules.
• Include an updated list in each new volume of a guidebook series.

After the Field Trip:

• Provide a free copy to GeoRef so that it will be indexed. GeoRef will then find a permanent home for the guidebook in a regional university library so that it will be preserved for future use. Include a cover letter explaining that this is a donation for indexing and inclusion in a university library, and send to:
  • GeoRef
  • American Geological Institute
  • 4220 King St.
  • Alexandria, VA 22302
• Provide a free copy (or at least offer to sell one) to one or more state university libraries with a librarian who is a member of Geoscience Information Society (and therefore is aware of the issues involved). In this way, the item will be cataloged and therefore appear in WorldCat (OCLC). If possible, give copies to more than one library (LOCKSS: Lots Of Copies, Keeps Stuff Safe).
• Notify a university GSIS librarian when you become aware of a new guidebook, especially if it is online.
• For guidebooks that are made available online or on CD-ROM, think about the preservation issues. Provide a print copy for a library, or notify a GSIS librarian so that a print copy can be added to a library collection.
• Donate a copy of your guidebook to a USGS library. Donate a copy to the AAPG Foundation Library.
• Include a list of guidebooks on your society web page (with all relevant information), and where copies can be obtained. Some societies are now posting PDFs of their guidebooks on their web sites; however, some are later removed.
• If the guidebook is spiral bound, try to provide an unbound copy to the libraries so that they can have them hard-bound. (Spiral bound items deteriorate more rapidly, even though they are more convenient in the field)
• Report new guidebooks, or guidebooks missing from the Guidebook Database or GeoRef via the online form. The titles will then be added to a Waiting List, to be indexed for GeoRef and added to the Guidebooks Database, providing a copy can be borrowed for indexing.

Return to GSIS Guidebooks Committee Home Page

Created 4/18/2011 by Lura Joseph

Revised 4/19/2011