Alexandria, VA - A great conundrum in data management has been how to connect end-users to available information. The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has launched a new tool through its Center for Geoscience and Society. Targeted at decision makers at the municipal, state and federal levels, and also useful for researchers and educators, the Critical Issues Research Database seeks to connect end-users to the wealth of information available on issues at the intersection of geoscience and society such as the occurrence of natural resources, hazard mitigation and pollution risks.
The Critical Issues Research Database is a growing catalog of over 3,400 factsheets, reports, position statements, and case studies, relevant to and indexed for application to legislative and research endeavors. The documents range from legacy documents from the 1970's to those published within the last year. Approximately 74% of this information is from state geological surveys, 19% from the U.S. Geological Survey, and 7% from geoscience non-profits in the AGI Federation and other geoscience information providers. In addition to expanding content from the state geological surveys and federal agencies, the next goal of this effort is to increase the number of indexed materials from the geoscience non-profit community.
"By aggregating these products in one place, AGI helps people, including decision makers, to connect quickly and easily with geoscience information that they need on issues they are concerned about," said P. Patrick Leahy, Executive Director of the American Geosciences Institute.
AGI invites decision makers, researchers, educators, and the public to explore this free resource and to search for topics related to their research, location, or legislative issues in the area at http://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/research-database.
"Decision makers now have the ability to quickly access curated information on particular topics both for the state in which they live, and surrounding areas," Leila Gonzales, Senior Researcher and developer of the database commented. "It's a key advantage over regular web search engines where users have to wade through search results that may or may not be relevant to the issue."
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The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of 50 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.