Association of American State Geologists
Geoscience Data Preservation Committee
2007-2008 Annual Report
National Policy
During both the Fall 2007 and the Spring 2008 Liaison Committee meetings, Committee members and
other AASG representatives visited with non-governmental organizations to engender support for the
National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP). They also met with
Senate and House appropriations staff members to encourage support for a full appropriation of the
NGGDPP.
Committee members also communicated regularly with the American Association of Petroleum
Geologists, particularly with David Curtiss (Director of AAPG’s Geoscience and Energy Office in
Washington, D.C.) and Patrick Gooding (Chair, AAPG Preservation of Geosciences Data Committee,
and staff member of the Kentucky Geological Survey). Curtiss advised the AASG as to which members
of Congress might be best to recruit as “appropriations champions.” These individuals were contacted
during the Spring 2008 Liaison Committee meetings, however, for a number of reasons it was
deemed inopportune to invest too much energy in seeking an appropriation this session of Congress.
These reasons are: 1) this is a presidential election year, and members of Congress had their
attention focused toward that; 2) this is also an election year for many of the potential appropriators,
and they were focused on their own re-election; and 3) final action on this year’s appropriations bills
will likely be postponed until after the November elections and likely into 2008, when a new
administration takes office.
Participation
Committee members and other AASG members assisted Tammy Dickinson (USGS Data Preservation
Program Coordinator) in developing strategy, procedures, and guidelines to begin a USGS-sponsored
data preservation grants program.
Members and Associates of the AASG participated in two USGS-organized Data Preservation Program
Implementation workshops:
a. National Digital Catalog Working Group
Tammy Dickinson and Sky Bristol (USGS), Co-chairs
Rod Combellick (Committee member and AASG Associate, Alaska)
Bill Harrison (Kansas)
Jay Parrish (Pennsylvania)
Bev DeJarnett (Curator, representing Texas)
Steve Richard (Research Geologist, representing Arizona)
Others from USGS and MMS
Discussed aspects of a National Catalog, including development, access control, prioritization,
existing catalogs, metadata standards.
b. Financial Assistance (Grants) Program Working Group
Tammy Dickinson and Randy Orndorff (USGS), Co-chairs
Bekki White (Committee member, Arkansas)
Ron Teissere (Washington)
William (Drew) Andrews (representing Kentucky)
Jon Arthur (Associate Florida)
MMS and BLM representatives
Developed strategy, procedures, and guidelines to begin a USGS-sponsored data preservation
grants program, modeled somewhat after the STATEMAP proposal procedures.
Two financial assistance opportunities became available during this fiscal year. They provided grants
for State Geological Surveys to begin to inventory their holdings and to begin to populate the new
National Digital Catalog administered by the USGS.
Members of the proposal review panel for the second offering were:
John Steinmetz (Committee member, Indiana)
Ron Teissere (Washington)
Nick Tew (Alabama)
Steve Richard (representing Arizona)
USGS, MMS, industry, and academic representatives
Awareness and Visibility
The Texas Bureau of Economic Geology produced an informative, colorful, well-illustrated, largeformat, tri-fold brochure demonstrating the benefits of a fully funded data preservations program.
The Geosciences Data Preservation Committee updated its Factsheet on Data Preservation for visits
during the Liaison Committee meetings and for its Web site. The Committee also developed a twopage funding factsheet to accompany State Geologists during their rounds in Washington.
The AASG and the USGS co-sponsored a session on "Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation
Best Practices" at the 119th Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, October 28-31,
2007, in Denver. The session was designed to share best practices in all facets of geoscience data
preservation, archiving, and accessibility. Representatives from Federal and State governments,
private industry, academia, and nonprofit organizations shared their knowledge and experience as a
community dedicated to preserving and serving geoscience information and data.
The AASG and USGS will co-host a breakout session at this year’s AASG Annual Meeting in
Shepherdstown to review program progress. The NSF is invited to participate. The AASG will use the
meeting to develop a strategy to move forward with a full appropriation.
Recommendations
 Wait until after the fall elections to ascertain who might be best to recruit in the Senate and
House as “appropriations champions.”

Engage the professional societies and non-governmental organizations which are advocates
of data preservation to lend their support towards a full congressional appropriation.

Begin to develop a strategy to seek reauthorization of the NGGDPP, which expires in 2010.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The Geoscience Data Preservation Committee is an ad hoc Committee of the Association.
Its mission is to promote the establishment of federal policy related to the preservation, archiving,
access, and use of geological, geochemical, and geophysical samples and data. The committee
monitors developments related, but not limited, to data preservation in state geological surveys,
industry, professional societies, federal government, and academia. It also makes recommendations
to its members that will facilitate data archival, access, and exchange.
John Steinmetz (Indiana), Chair
Rodney Combellick (Alaska)
Derric Iles (South Dakota)
Don Koch (Iowa)
Jamie Robertson (Wisconsin)
Bekki White (Arkansas)