AAPG Digits Huge Membership Benefit

President's Column

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.

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Dan L. Smith

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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.

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