Early in my term I announced that
AAPG would concentrate on eight areas of importance — "primary
areas that affect our ability to practice our profession."
One of these is "Increased Electronic Media," which
represents our resolve for the acceleration of electronic publishing,
the ongoing creation of digital databases, electronic mining of
data and other online services.
It is important that AAPG's members are aware of
these initiatives. So here they are:
Datapages — This is AAPG's digital
archival aggregate that was developed during the past 10 years.
This digital umbrella, which allows for rapid and seamless search
and retrieval within all the aggregate, is composed of all AAPG
publications, SEPM's Journal of Sedimentary Research, and Gulf Coast
Association of Geological Societies' Transactions and the Journal
of Petroleum Geology.
Recently, we made arrangements to digitize the publications
of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, and we have added
digital versions of publications from AAPG's domestic affiliates
that include, in addition to the aforementioned GCAGS, the New Orleans
Geological Society, Lafayette Geological Society and East Texas
Geological Society.
We continue to digitize and add libraries from our
affiliated and associated societies as well as research and government
publications, and we already have arrangements made with Panhandle
Geological Society, Ardmore Geological society and Tulsa Geological
Society.
AAPG/Datapages now provides corporate-only access
(for now) to the huge University of Tulsa Petroleum Abstracts database,
featuring more than 750,000 article citations and abstracts. This
database can be combined with all the AAPG (and related society)
holdings for a combined search-and-retrieval. This is the crown
jewel database of the petroleum industry, featuring geology, engineering,
geochemistry and even some downstream citations.
GIS-UDRIL, which stands for AAPG's
"GIS Upstream Digital Reference Information Library," is our NEW
top priority project where we are performing "digital drilling or
mining" of the Datapages aggregate.
This is AAPG's most asked-for product, composed of
geo-referenced databases placed into an easy-to-use GIS format.
Databases are of oil/gas fields, seismic lines, burial
history data/curves, and others in progress of rock and log analyses,
reservoirs, source rocks, etc. These data, along with articles in
the Datapages aggregate with geographic contexts, will be accessed
using the "Select" icon available with ArcView or with the ArcIMS
server.
Comprehensive Geoscience Publications Aggregate (CGA)
— A group of societies are in the initial phase of this project,
which is investigating the feasibility and the development of a
business plan to publish all key geoscience journals electronically,
allowing seamless searching among journals.
Libraries will be the largest customer, and professors
and students are particularly interested.
The group hired a consultant who is currently developing
the business and marketing plan. The product will be a long-range
program, which will take significant future funding.
AAPG will need to decide how its current programs
will fit into this aggregate. We must ensure that the CGA is designed
for the best use of AAPG members.
AAPG has developed a "Digital Pipeline," five to
six years long, to provide members free access to some of the digital
products of Datapages. Larger companies are asked to fund new projects,
and two to three years into the pipeline, smaller independents and
consultants can purchase products from the pipeline.
Selected digital products will emerge from the end
of the pipeline to be provided at low cost or no cost to members.
The first product to emerge is the BULLETIN archive from 1917 to
present.
Datapages and GIS-UDRIL are ongoing, proven projects.
They fit nicely into my theme this year of "Value, Value, Value."
In addition to the above, AAPG
online services include:
For further information on AAPG digital services,
contact Ron Hart, Geoscience Marketing Manager at .
Finally, a very important reminder: The deadline for
pre-registering for the AAPG Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City is
April 8.
Do it online — and take advantage of this
opportunity to create "Value" for your AAPG membership.